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For example, when consumers decide on a mobile phone, they also choose the app store that comes with the operating system. They also start a path-dependent process that strengthens lock-in when they buy other internet of things (IoT) products that are only interoperable with their mobile ecosystem. Once this choice is made, it is difficult for consumers to move between ecosystems without financial loss (apps and other (IoT) hardware), loss of time (restoring personal information, settings etc.) and loss of data. Other examples include purchased digital media, which may become inaccessible once the contract with the trader ends, or car repairs, which the consumer must execute at garages certified by the car producer, because only these have access to the full set of diagnostic data. Consumers may also be locked in to a given (national) version of a given ecosystem, for instance on the basis of the location data provided in the registration of the user’s profile, so that using the same profile in another version of the interface or ecosystem may entail the loss of all data and content acquired in the original version.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-25 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.