- 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.
I highly recommend the pixel fold if you want a folding phone but don’t want to go with Samsung. It’s a better form factor anyway and it closes all the way.
Thanks for the recommendation!
I like the fold concept in theory, though it’s a bit exhausting protecting the screen all the time.
Being able to set the phone anywhere at an angle to take a picture has come in handy super frequently.
If this phone was full price though I think I’d be mad. I baby this screen line no tomorrow, and I’m diligent about keeping my pocket free of any dust and lint, let alone dirt or bits.
I’ve got a tiny scratch in the middle of the fold, and the entire fold area has long tiny cracks forming from folding. I’ve only had this phone for like 7 or 8 months.
My buddies broke in 30 days of buying it, and he had to fight to get it replaced.
Again, I like the idea, and I enjoy using it. But there’s still too many pain spots for me to make the jump. It’ll have to get a lot cheaper or a lot more sturdy before I’ll get another.