iFixit ends contract with Samsung and will no longer be the designated parts distributor starting in June

May 24. (Portaltic/EP) –

iFixit ha ended its collaboration contract with Samsung for the repair of its Galaxy devices, and will cease to be the distributor of parts and tools designated by the technology company as of June of this year, because They do not share the same approach to repairability of devices.

The Korean technology company announced its partnership with the iFixit repair community in 2022, when it began launching a self-repair program for Galaxy devicessuch as mobile phones and tablets, with free manuals and information on how to replace damaged or old parts of the devices, such as the screen or charging ports.

As Samsung stated at that time, the initiative was launched with the idea of ​​offering “more convenient and accessible options for users to prolong the use of their devices and promote a circular economy”, as well as to minimize electronic waste.

Now, two years later, iFixit has announced the end of collaboration with Samsungwhich ends the contract as of June 2024, ceasing to be the distributor of parts and tools from Samsung third parties.

The repair company has stated it’s a statement that its objective was “build an amazing, easy-to-repair ecosystem”providing independent and local repair companies with the tools and parts necessary to carry out repairs.

However, iFixit has shared that, Despite their “best efforts”, they have not been able to fulfill that promisedue to constant obstacles that made the company “doubt Samsung’s commitment” to making repairs more accessible.

As you have reported, one of the problems has been that, due to the prices imposed by Samsung, they couldn’t offer local repair shops parts “at prices and quantities that made commercial sense“In fact, he stressed that parts costs were so high that “many consumers chose to replace their devices rather than repair them.”

An example of this is that, when trying to change a battery in a Galaxy smartphone, the device had a design that maintained the battery stuck to the screen, forcing iFixit to sell batteries and screens together increasing the cost of repair.

For all this, the company has explained that it has decided end its partnership with Samsung and has stated that the Tech’s approach to repairability ‘does not align’ with the iFixit mission.

Thus, it will cease to be Samsung’s designated distributor of parts and tools as of June this year. However, iFixit has clarified that, although they will also stop collaborating to develop new manuals, will not delete any existing information about Samsung device repairs.

Also, the repair company will continue to sell parts and repair kits for Samsung devicessourcing OEM parts when available and clearly stating whether the parts are original or not, just like they do with Apple repair partsas detailed.

NEW CONTRACT FOR INDEPENDENT REPAIR CENTERS

In addition to all this, the Korean company has developed a new contract for independent repair centersin which he points out that in order for repair shops to be able to offer their service, they must share with Samsung a report with name, contact information, mobile phone and details of customers’ repair needs.

But, in addition, Samsung requires workshops to Inform the company when a device does not include original partsas shared 404 Mediumwhich has had access to parts of the company’s new contract.

In fact, this contract states that, in the event that repairers find a component that is not original in the device, You must remove said piece and notify the company immediately.describing “the details and circumstances of any unauthorized use or misappropriation of any service part.”

Likewise, other rules of the contract refer to the type of parts that repairers can use and prohibit types of repairs that involve welding or interfere with the motherboard.

This new contract implies that, If these guidelines are not followed, Samsung will not send replacement parts to repair shops. However, they involve a series of complications for the professionals of these independent centerssince it supposes the sending personal information of clients to the technology company, in addition to having to disassemble devicesin case they include non-original parts.