iFixit, the third-party device repair company, has announced it's ending its two-year repair partnership with Samsung. While Samsung used the company to facilitate its self-repair program for customers, iFixit states the partnership had several issues.
In a recent blog post, iFixit announced it was ending its Samsung Repair Hub due to, in its words, a doubt about “Samsung’s commitment to making repair more accessible.” The blog mentions that iFixit could not get parts at the price and quantity that would make business sense. The company mentions that the result was part prices so costly it made more financial sense to replace the phone rather than have it repaired.
Alongside this is a recent report from 404Media, which reveals a purported contract between Samsung and its third-party repair stores. The contract in question details some concerning requirements that third-party stores have to fulfill, including requiring repair stores to immediately disassembly all products that feature non-Samsung parts and notify the company of the “details and circumstances of any unauthorized use or misappropriation of any service parts for any purpose other than pursuant to this agreement.”
The contract also requires the details of every repair the independent company does at the time of repair. This information doesn't just list what was replaced, it includes the customer's name, address, email, phone number, the details of the customer complaint, and the device's IMEI number. This would mean that, if a customer used third-party parts, Samsung would have all their details in one place.
iFixit has not mentioned if its leaving has to do with contractual complaints as well as the cost, and likely won't go into detail. For now, the only thing we know for certain is that starting in June, iFixit will no longer be Samsung’s designated third-party parts and tools distributor. iFixit plans to continue to sell OEM parts and repair kits for Samsung devices, although this would be flagged by any repair center that follows Samsung's contract.
While this news is concerning and the reveal could place Samsung in some hot water legally, there is plenty users can do to avoid needing a repair in the first place. We have a list of how to protect your new phone and 5 tips from a phone engineer to keep your phone safe.
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