iFixit ends Samsung partnership citing repairability differences

iFixit is ending its partnership with Samsung, citing differences over its views on repairability and a handful of other factors. iFixit has for years been the go-to spot for information on how to repair all the most popular tech devices, many of which are phones. The company has been putting out repair guides on Samsung devices for quite some time, and it’s been selling Samsung repair parts since 2015.

Then back in 2022, iFixit agreed to a partnership with Samsung. The company was to be the official storefront for OEM repair parts for Samsung devices. As well as provide “the gold standard for repair documentation” to independent local repair shops in addition to the parts they would need for device repair. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. iFixit says that Samsung’s goals didn’t align with its own. Citing the high cost of repair parts and the high difficulty in repairability of the devices those parts were for. As of June, iFixit says it will no longer be Samsung’s designated third-party parts and tools distributor.

The end of the iFixit Samsung partnership doesn’t mean it will stop selling parts

In fact, there’s a silver lining for people who buy Samsung parts for their devices from iFixit. While this partnership was intact, iFixit had quantity limits on repair parts. Meaning it would only have so many to sell to customers.

That will no longer be the case starting in June. As iFixit confirms repair shops won’t be limited to how many parts they can buy per quarter. They were previously limited to selling 7 parts per shop per quarter. “For our repair shop customers, we’re no longer beholden to the miserly quantity limits you’ve been so frustrated by,” iFixit says.

Although parts will still be sold, they may not always be OEM parts like before. That being said, iFixit is committed to providing parts and repair kits for Samsung devices, OEM or not. The company says it will source OEM parts when available, and clearly indicate if parts are aftermarket when OEM parts aren’t available. iFixit is going to stop making in-house repair guides for Samsung devices as well. However, it is still encouraging customers and iFixit community members to continue creating and sharing them. The company says over half of the more than 100,000 repair guides were written by community members.

Many of these guides are for a wide variety of different devices. Plus, iFixit still sells genuine parts for a ton of them. Including phones like the Pixel 8 series.

Samsung may have required repair shops to share customer data

iFixit’s official statement about the partnership doesn’t mention anything about Samsung’s contract requirements. However, a separate report that came out around the same time contains some potentially detrimental details about how Samsung wanted things done.

According to 404 Media, which claims to have obtained a copy of Samsung’s contract, Samsung was requiring independent repair shops to share customer data. And even disassemble devices if they were repaired with non-Samsung parts. One part of the contract reads “Company shall immediately disassemble all products that are created or assembled out of, comprised of, or that contain any Service Parts not purchased from Samsung.” The contract also requests those shops notify Samsung in writing.

Shops who signed this contract were also required to upload data about every repair on a daily basis. Of note is that the contract may be from last year. The Verge reports that it’s supposedly from 2023, noting that Samsung could have already replaced certain language with wording that could be more amenable to independent state laws revolving around the right-to-repair bill.

It’s not clear if iFixit’s decision to cut ties had anything to do with this contract. But it does seem possible that it might have been a factor. At least one of many, since iFixit has outlined quite a few reasons for the split.