Samsung made a big deal about launching its Self-Repair program in the US a couple of years ago. The right-to-repair program was designed to be simpler than Apple’s. Samsung had teamed up with iFixit, best known for its repair guides and teardown reports, for the Self-Repair program.
iFixit has today announced that it’s ending its collaboration with Samsung on this program. Self-Repair might live on with another partner, but iFixit is no longer going to play a role in it. iFixit has made some serious claims about ‘obstacles’ from Samsung that apparently prevented it from achieving the objective, but the Korean company is yet to respond.
Samsung’s commitment to repairability has been called into question
iFixit said in a statement today that despite its best efforts, it hasn’t been able to deliver on the promise of providing independent repair shops with the tools and parts they need. The company added that it has continued to face challenges that have made it “doubt Samsung’s commitment” to make repairs more accessible for customers.
From difficulty in getting parts to local repair shops at prices and quantities that were feasible for business to part prices being so high that more customers ended up replacing their devices than getting them repaired. iFixit also blames the design of Samsung’s Galaxy devices as being “frustratingly glued together,” forcing the company to sell batteries and screens in pre-glued bundles that made the repair costs higher.
The company says that it has ended its partnership with Samsung, saying that the Korean giant’s approach to repairability doesn’t align with its mission. Starting next month, iFixit will cease to be an authorized third-party parts and tools distributor for Samsung. It won’t have a quantity limit anymore for local repair shops buying Samsung spare parts.
iFixit won’t remove any existing repair documentation but it also won’t collaborate with Samsung to produce any new repair manuals. Parts and repair fix kits will continue to be available, with iFixit providing both OEM and aftermarket parts.
Samsung hasn’t released a statement on this yet but we’ve reached out to get the company’s version on this development. iFixit has made some pretty serious allegations against the company so one can be sure that a response will follow in due course.