- iFixit and Samsung are ending their partnership on a direct-to-consumer phone repair program.
- iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens says “Samsung does not seem interested in enabling repair at scale” and that the deal is not working due to high parts prices and difficulty of repairs.
- Samsung only ships batteries pre-glued to the phone screen, forcing customers to pay over $160 even for just a battery replacement, unlike with other vendors.
- The contract also limited iFixit to selling no more than 7 parts per customer in a 3-month period, hampering their ability to support local repair shops.
- Additionally, Samsung required iFixit to share customer email addresses and purchase history, which iFixit does not do with other partners.
- iFixit says it will continue to stock aftermarket Samsung parts and publish repair guides, but will no longer work directly with Samsung on official repair manuals.
iFixit says:
We clearly didn’t learn our lesson the first time, and let them convince us they were serious about embracing repair.
We tried to make this work. Gosh, we tried. But with such divergent priorities, we’re no longer able to proceed.
Can you tell me a little more about this please?
I haven’t come across a smart switch before as I generally try to minimise the number of smart devices in my home. I presume you have to pair your phone with something. It sounds quite intriguing.
No it’s just a typical smart socket and I’ve put my phone charger in it. (an old 1 amp charger so it is easier on the battery.) The 60% button turns the switch on for about three hours for example. (Phone has 5A battery.)
The charger is on from midday in case I forget to select a charging amount before sleeping.
You could do similar with an old fashioned rotary mechanical timer socket.
Perfect. Thank you.