To learn more about the CNBC CFO Council, visit cnbccouncils.com/cfo
In this article
It used to be that if your iPhone or Galaxy was damaged, you were at the mercy of Apple or Samsung to get it fixed as manufacturers snowed customers with a blizzard of unattainable proprietary parts and software diagnostics. But that pain hasn’t been limited to smartphones, and a legal movement challenging who controls the diagnostic and reprogramming tools for anything from phones to automobiles, dishwashers and farm equipment — all of which consumers say have become increasingly difficult to get repaired inexpensively — continues to gain political momentum across the country.
The right-to-repair movement has done something seemingly impossible: brought Republicans and Democrats together, with the movement succeeding with a wave of state laws enacted in recent years and a new push in the U.S. House and Senate.
Since right-to-repair electronics legislation was passed in 2022 in New York State, the tide has been turning. California, Colorado, Minnesota, Connecticut and Oregon have all passed comprehensive right-to-repair regulations. Washington joined them most recently in May 2025. As of this year, advocates are tracking 57 right-to-repair bills across 22 states. In Maine, the state senate just advanced a bill that would bring the right to repair to electronics in the state. Texas’s new right-to-repair law kicks in on Sept. 1 and covers phones, laptops, and tablets, but excludes medical and farm equipment, and game consoles.
