iFixit and Samsung came together to offer a direct-to-customer repair program. But, two years after launch, the two companies are parting ways.
iFixit hasannouncedthat it has terminated its partnership withSamsung. The collaboration previously had iFixit offering official spare parts and detailed guides for replacing the display, charging ports, and other components onSamsung phonesandtablets.
However, just two years in, the program has now ended, with iFixit squarely blaming the South Korean company for the outcome. iFixit doubts Samsung’s seriousness about its self-repairing program and says it “consistently faced obstacles that made us doubt Samsung’s commitment to making repair more accessible.”
iFixit will continue to sell parts and repair fix kits for Samsung devices and will not remove any existing repair guides from its website. The company also states that Samsung’s limitation of selling a maximum of seven parts per customer within three months will also not be applicable going forward.
In aninterview with The Verge, iFixit CEO and co-founder Kyle Wiens blamed Samsung for providing them with more expensive spare parts. Citing an example, he said the South Korean brand would only send batteries pre-glued to the display, making the customer pay $160 a piece. Conversely, iFixit sells batteries foriPhonesand Google Pixel devices for just $50.
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The contract is alleged to stipulate that partners should “immediately disassemble” any phones that customers have brought and to “immediately notify” Samsung that the customer has used third-party parts.
On the other hand, in astatement to Android Authority, Samsung said it would continue offering repair parts for its devices through a website called Samsungparts.com, powered by another repair provider called Encompass.
Jitendra Soni was a Tech Writer on Dexerto’s UK Team. An expert in tech, especially smartphones, he has almost 10 years of experience. He spearheaded the TechRadar India editorial operations and has written for TechRadar, TechRadar Pro, Free Press Journal, Mobile Scout, IB Times Singapore, Indulge Express, and more.
