Although this program is initially lunching in the US, according to the statement, it is quickly expanding to other countries so I suspect this is really about making repairs to existing units outside the US. Many places have huge iPhone install bases but not a single official apple store anywhere (Moscow is an example).

Has Apple made any official statements or prior arguments on third party repair? I’ve seen a lot of speculation and inference online but I don’t recall ever seeing an official statement from Apple on third party repair.