Repair site iFixit is ending its Samsung Repair Hub and formal collaboration with the tech giant next month, citing high costs and device designs that make them unnecessarily expensive to fix.”As we tried to build this ecosystem we consistently faced obstacles that made us doubt Samsung’s commitment to making repair more accessible,” iFixit Operations and Logistics Supervisor Scott Head writes in a blog post. “We couldn’t get parts to local repair shops at prices and quantities that made business sense. “The part prices were so costly that many consumers opted to replace their devices rather than repair them,” he adds. “And the design of Samsung’s Galaxy devices remained frustratingly glued together, forcing us to sell batteries and screens in pre-glued bundles that increased the cost.”The iFixit-Samung partnership ends on June 17, but iFixit will continue to sell kits and parts for Samsung devices. They just won’t be sold via an official partnership with Samsung, and “we will not collaborate directly with Samsung to develop new manuals,” iFixit says.”We tried to work with Samsung to create repair documentation for a few initial devices,” Head says. “However, flashy press releases and ambitious initiatives don’t mean much without follow-through.”In an interview with The Verge, iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens says he doesn’t think Samsung is actually interested in allowing customers to repair their devices “at scale.” This could be because stock prices don’t go up when consumers choose the more sustainable option of fixing their devices instead of forking over hundreds or thousands of dollars for the latest model. Repair numbers aren’t reported on quarterly earnings reports for investors, either.At the corporate level, it’s worth noting that Samsung doesn’t think it’s meeting financial expectations these days. Last month, it implemented six-day workweeks for executives to combat a supposed financial “crisis” at the company.Samsung is also reportedly requiring customer data from repair shops that sell official replacement parts and is trying to crack down against the use of unofficial parts, according to 404 Media. Samsung demands images from shops of every single repair, and mandates that third-party shops with Samsung contracts must “immediately disassemble” any Samsung device that has been repaired with off-brand parts, according to documents from a vendor.Some regions, like the European Union and Oregon in the US, have passed legislation to protect consumers’ rights to get their devices fixed—a move that helps third-party repair shops stay in business.This isn’t the first time iFixit has criticized Samsung’s practices. In 2021, iFixit said Samsung “ruined” its own upcycling program, which previously had a much bigger scope for new uses for old phones. Samsung, however, ultimately decided not to allow users to unlock the bootloaders of their old devices, effectively disabling the upcycling possibilities it once touted.
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Reached for comment, Samsung tells PCMag it’s “committed to providing quality, accessible device care to our customers with flexible options to suit their needs, including walk-in, mail-in, and ‘We Come to You’ services.””We’re proud of the work we’ve done together with iFixit. We can’t comment further on partnership details at this time,” a Samsung representative said.The tech giant recommended Samsung users look into its own self-repair program, SamsungParts.com, which is powered by the repair company Encompass.Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include comment from Samsung.
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