Extended project- What a waste?

Belkin but The replacement industry in general


I intend this to be a longer blog post, with more research to come in the following weeks. If anyone would like to join, feel free to comment or contact me.


Waiting to buy. Going to buy and then ACTUALLY buying my new iphone was such an exciting process. After using my shabby dies-in-ten-minutes iPhone 10 for a couple of new years, my parents finally decided that it was time to upgrade. So, after a month long process of going back and forth, a bit like a tennis match, with my parents on what phone I wanted/"needed", we finally decided to go to the apple shop. Selecting my new iPhone was an interesting process in itself, considering what options and trade off's I minded/didn't mind; eventually leading to the iPhone 16. 

The first step after buying a new phone, at least for me, is to get the best protection. Thats why I "invested" in an a (good?) quality case and a (good?) quality screen protector as well. Both were bought on the same day, from apple. Here, I fear the brand name and its reputation may have "nudged" (haha this should get the brownie points) me into believing that the case I was getting must have been of good class. The screenprotector was from a company called Belkin, and what appealed its product most was a lifetime guarantee of screen protectors for your phone.

My old screen protector

After messing about with my new phone for a few months, the screen protector had two mini cracks, Blogspot doesn't have the nice tool of using big red arrows to highlight these spots but theres one on the bottom right and one in the middle left. If this was literally any other situation, I would care less about these two cracks. But it wasnt just any other situation. I had the Belkin guarantee. I had the power to get a fresh new screen protector. I knew I had the choice, and I knew I wanted, not needed, to use it. So, yes, I decided to order in a new screen protector and for it to be fitted at the nearest apple store. 

But, is this not a waste? I know next time when I see a small crack I'm going to want another new case. Theres almost a moral hazard: I can be more risky with the activities I am doing, such as recording my cricket nets batting from closer, knowing that if the phone protector cracks, Belkin and apple will bail me out with a new protector. If this was an economics 25 marks question, you could further argue, negative consumption externalities, leading to overconsumption and overproduction. A deadweight welfare loss to society... 
The ordering process

Surely this couldn't just be me though, and now I shall look more specifically into Belkin, the screen protector industry and then more widely into the replacement industry as a whole.




[unfinished]



Next steps:
    1. belkin
    2. specific screen protector industry
    3. replacement industry in general
    4. solutions


Useful data that I may want to include


low redemption rate for free or lifetime screen protector replacements, with only 3-5% of eligible consumers actually utilising the service. 


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