While sounding nice in theory, these sorts of regulations will certainly curtail innovation while providing very, very little value elsewhere.

If people wanted removable batteries in their phones, they would buy them a lot. They don't.

> If people wanted removable batteries in their phones, they would buy them a lot. They don't.

This argument gets thrown about every time companies make anti-consumer changes, and it completely ignores the information asymmetry and other dynamics at play. When I go to the store to buy a new phone, where does it list on the box how repairable the device is? Where does it show how expensive the repair will be? If I'm locked in the apple ecosystem, where do I buy an iPhone with a replaceable battery?

Your assumption that the market is driven by informed consumer choices presupposes that every buyer is an expert.

Which flagship phones with replaceable batteries can customers buy?

Samsung was the last major brand in the US to have one, and they made the choice to remove it.

I want removeable batteries in my phone, largely because it means I don't have to buy them a lot!

I ran my LG G5 with replaceable batteries from 2016 through 2021, at which point there were no affordable replaceable-battery phones left. I bought quite a few replacement batteries, even trying aftermarket batteries with varying levels of success after the OEM LG ones were discontinued.

That is, of course, a problem for manufacturers that want to sell a lot of phones.

Innovation generally happens because of some kind of impediment to doing things the old way. So this is more likely drive innovation than curtail it.

> "If people wanted removable batteries in their phones, they would buy them a lot. They don't."

For that to happen there obviously needs to be a supply worth writing home about. Furthermore, speaking purely for myself, a removable battery is not a must but a nice-to-have. A lot of slabs that have removable batteries are out of the game for entirely different reasons.

I absolutely would buy a Samsung Smartphone with replacable battery. The last one which had this was the S5 I think...

Even with a battery that can be replaced using a tiny screwdriver, this still doesn’t make it DIY for probably 80-90% of smartphone users.

Nonsense. It just mandates easier repairability and spare parts availability, not ad-hoc replacement. Also this does not apply if the battery is able to retain 80% of its original capacity after 1,000 charge cycles so "innovative" manufacturers just need to use high quality batteries.

that isnt how markets really work. you could say that if apple had two otherwise identical iphones except one has removable battery and one doesn't. but the enshittification cycle works via a ratcheting effect. once you achieve a certain level of dominance and lock-in, you can start getting away with all kinds of anti-consumer strategies to make more money and not get punished for it, and your competitors will follow suit. as long as you can ratchet above whatever detrimental thing you want to get away with is you'll probably be fine.

you can look at the lightning connector as an example. if you said "if people wanted usb connectivity they wouldn't buy iphones", nobody would take you seriously. and when apple was forced to switch, it absolutely didnt tank their sales because people just loved the lightning connector so much. the bad thing went away and it was great.

...is what people said when they brought in the mandate for usb charging but it didnt.

It turns out market consolidation is usually the biggest innovation killer.