Once, Nokia was the world’s biggest smartphone brand and a role model for other manufacturers. Those days are far behind us and now Apple and Samsung are the big players. However, those can learn a thing or two from a new feature from the brand.
Nokia was once the biggest in the era before smartphones. The 3310 was great, of course. You could easily change the outside and the battery lasted a long time. However, the brand stopped keeping up with the smartphone era and was overtaken by all kinds of companies.
Nokia as an example for Samsung and Apple
Two of those companies were Samsung and Apple. They managed to take the smartphone to new heights by connecting it to the Internet and replacing the keys with a touchscreen.
In the beginning, you could still easily do repairs yourself on your Apple or Samsung phone, for example. For example, I myself replaced the screen of my iPhone 4S when it had a crack in it. I also had to change the battery when it stopped performing top notch. These repairs, which I did myself, resulted in me doing 7 years with my 4S.
Nowadays, this is almost impossible. Opening an Apple device is still possible, but because everything is tied together, it is impractical to repair anything. For example, if you want to replace the battery on an iPhone 14 Pro, even the screen has to be taken out. Samsung doesn’t make it simple either.
Samsung and Apple have a good reason for this, of course. Of course, smartphones have become much more elaborate and complicated, but there is another reason, of course. If it becomes difficult to repair a phone, you are more likely to buy a new one which makes those companies’ cash registers ring. Nokia is now done with that.
Does Nokia still exist?
Today, Nokia phones are no longer made by the Finnish company. After several sales of the phone branch, the license of the Nokia name has passed into the hands of Finland’s HMD Global. Until 2024, they are allowed to make phones using the company’s name. The original Nokia still exists, but now focuses more on communications technology.
So can Apple and Samsung
Nokia has partnered with repair service iFixit for the new G22. As a result, the company creates repair guides and ensures that parts can be ordered separately from iFixit for 5 years.
Still, Nokia’s idea is not entirely new. A Dutch company was already ahead of the iconic brand. Fairphone already offers a similar feature for its phones. The Dutch brand’s smartphones are made so that you can easily replace parts yourself if they are broken. You simply order those parts on the brand’s site.
Still, it’s good to see Nokia following Fairphone and hopefully this will set the trend. It should just be possible again to repair your own phone. Not only because of your own wallet, but also because it is good for the environment. You are less likely to throw away your old Apple or Samsung phone.
Thinking about the environment and the wallet
And that is precisely what makes it so ironic. Apple and Samsung in particular pretend to think about the environment and they brag about it. That is why they no longer give you a charger as a gift, but you have to buy it separately because it is better for the environment.
Repair (Image: Mark Hofman / WANT)
So you would think that they are doing everything they can to make it easy for you to fix your phone yourself. But is that really the case, or is it mostly about money? Let them go after Nokia and Fairphone. So Apple and Samsung, come on! Put some more money into development in usability for people who want to repair the device.
