Back Market Uses CES 2026 to Press for Right to Repair and Slow-Tech Shift in U.S. Market

New updates have been reported about Back Market.

Back Market put itself at the center of the repairability and circular-tech debate at CES 2026, using an offsite event in Las Vegas, “The Slow Tech Awakening,” to challenge the U.S. upgrade-driven device model and position its refurbished marketplace as a core beneficiary of regulatory and cultural change. The company convened a standing-room-only panel, “Enough Already!! How America Got Trapped in the Upgrade Economy and What Comes Next,” where independent voices from repair, climate policy, and media argued that rapid device replacement is driven by design choices, software lock-ins, restricted parts access, and annual product cycles rather than genuine consumer demand. Back Market’s Chief Marketing Officer, Joy Howard, highlighted that the company’s nearly $5 billion valuation and $3 billion in global gross merchandise value (GMV) demonstrate that durability and repair are already a scalable business model, and that U.S. demand for refurbished tech is still in early growth as consumers increasingly push back against forced obsolescence.

Speakers framed the emerging Right to Repair landscape—seven U.S. states with laws passed and bills introduced in all 50 states—as a structural tailwind for businesses like Back Market that depend on repairable, longer-lived devices to feed refurbishment supply. CEO and co-founder Thibaud Hug de Larauze used the platform to argue that durability and repairability will define the future of personal technology and are critical to climate objectives, reinforcing Back Market’s strategic alignment with circular-economy regulation and consumer sentiment. The event also featured the U.S. premiere of “Dandora,” a documentary on e-waste flows from the U.S. and Europe to Kenya, underscoring the environmental cost of short device lifecycles, and a partnership with iFixit to power live voting for the “Worst in Show” awards targeting the least repairable CES products. Panelists called for stronger external pressures—Right to Repair laws, extended producer responsibility, recycled-content rules, and a 10‑year smartphone benchmark—which, if realized, would likely expand the addressable market and supply base for Back Market’s platform as manufacturers are pushed toward repair-friendly design and longer product lifespans.