iFixit ends Samsung deal as oppressive repair shop demands emerge

IFixit and Samsung were once at the forefront of device repair, but iFixit says it is ending its repair partnership with Samsung because it believes Samsung simply isn’t participating in good faith. iFixit claims that the two companies “have not been able to deliver” on the promise of a viable repair ecosystem, so they prefer to stop the project rather than continue it. The repair site claims that “flashy press releases and ambitious initiatives don’t mean much without follow-through.”

Scott Head of iFixit explains: “As we tried to build this ecosystem, we constantly encountered obstacles that made us doubt Samsung’s commitment to making repair more accessible. prices were so high that many consumers chose to replace their devices rather than repair them. And the design of Samsung’s Galaxy devices remained frustratingly stuck together, forcing us to sell batteries and screens in pre-glued packages, which increased the cost.

A good example of Samsung bundling parts is this Galaxy S22 Ultra “screen” part for $233. The screen is the most common part to break, but rather than just selling a screen, Samsung makes you buy the screen, a new phone frame, battery, and new side buttons and switches. As we said during the announcement, that’s half of the total parts of an entire phone. It’s not a perfect measurement, but the Samsung/iFixit parts store only has three parts for the S22 Ultra, while the Pixel 8 Pro store has 10 and the iPhone 14 Pro Max store has 23.

Even with Samsung’s partial consolidation, iFixit’s complaint about high prices doesn’t appear to be reflected in the store’s prices. The Pixel 8 Pro display + fingerprint reader, without case, battery and buttons, costs $230. An iPhone 14 Pro Max screen costs $395. (There’s a good chance that Samsung is the manufacturer of these three displays.)

Samsung and iFixit have always had a rocky relationship. In 2017, the two companies were supposed to partner on an “upcycling” program, in which Samsung would find new uses for old phones. The original plan included things like unlocking the bootloader of older devices, so that Samsung’s operating system could be completely replaced, and hosting an open source marketplace where users could submit ideas and software to reuse old Galaxy devices. In what now seems like a familiar strategy, Samsung was more concerned with appearances than actual usefulness, and iFixit said the recycling program it launched in 2021 was “almost unrecognizable” from what iFixit initially intended. approved and loaned its logo in 2017.

In 2019, following the “embarrassing” delayed launch of the Galaxy Fold 1 over durability concerns, Samsung attacked iFixit for taking apart the faulty device. Samsung forced iFixit to remove an article explaining some of the device’s flaws. Samsung had no legal standing to do so, but apparently threatened one of iFixit’s parts suppliers if the item was not removed.

Samsung is also reportedly launching a repair attack, even though it partners with iFixit. The same day iFixit announced it was dropping the partnership, 404 Media reported that Samsung was requiring independent repair shops to hand over customer data and “immediately disassemble” any devices using third-party parts. Imagine taking your phone to a store to get it repaired and discovering that it was destroyed by the store, per Samsung’s requirements. The report also said Samsung’s contracts require independent companies to upload details of each repair “daily” to a Samsung database (called G-SPN) “at the time of each repair.”

As the latest chapter of the partner store dies after just two years, in June 2024, iFixit says some changes will be made to its website. It won’t remove any information, but it will start offering clearly labeled third-party parts in addition to the OEM Samsung parts it can source. It will no longer collaborate with Samsung for manuals and will not need to meet Samsung’s quantity limit requirements.