I find it hard to believe that there is such a thing as a long lasting natural monopoly. The only monopolies that seem to last are the ones that are rooted in state coercion.
Besides that, when I talk about "getting rid of regulation", I of course mean to get rid of barriers to entry. It may be feasible for large companies to set aside a couple of millions for a dedicated compliance department. Small startups do not have those resources.
But even in the current market, as imperfect as it is, there are a countless competing electronics manufacturers. How is it that not a single one of them has started to offer a product line that caters to the "repair" crowd? Maybe that is something that's worth looking into?
well, actually there is at least one: the fairphone. but its product is not competitive enough to be able to attract everyone who is in the repair crowd. that said, it's doing better than the openmoko did, so there is hope. the problem is now that manufacturers need to discover this market and want to compete in it.
