iFixit is ditching its self-repair program for Samsung device owners in the US over what the former says is a lack of commitment to the movement from the latter.
A two-year partnership between the repair specialist and the device maker, will not be renewed the CEO of iFixit has revealed.
“Samsung does not seem interested in enabling repair at scale,” said co-founder Kyle Wiens in comments to The Verge as part of an enlightening report.
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However, it won’t affect UK users because Samsung partners with a company called Ingram Micro for self-repair on these shores. iFixit does sell a limited number of Samsung parts in the UK, but mainly for older devices.
According to the iFixit boss, Samsung makes genuine parts prohibitively expensive, and has done little to make it easier for enthusiasts to repair the devices. As a result, few consumers are interested in buying the parts.
Furthermore, if you wanted to replace your phone’s battery, it costs $160 because they’re only sold pre-attached to a phone display. Meanwhile, you can get an iPhone or Google Pixel phone battery for around a third of that cost.
The iFixit deal also requires the company to, essentially, only sell parts to individual consumers. That makes it nearly impossible for iFixit to supply high street repair stores with the parts.
“We haven’t been able to get parts moving at the volumes needed to move the environmental needle,” says Wiens. Beyond that, acquiring parts for the newer phones has been incredibly difficult the company says.
As such, iFixit will simply stock aftermarket parts for Samsung phones rather than seeks to acquire new, genuine parts from Samsung. Repair guides will still be available, but won’t be published in collaboration with the manufacturer.
Overall though, it should mean the parts are cheaper for Samsung phone owners overall, and iFixit will still offer guides and tools.