November the 17th, 2021 was an important day for the repair industry. Apple, usually being disconnected in regards to the right to repair, announced they will soon be offering "Self-Service Repair” for end consumers.
Our own customers, repair and service centers all over the world, seem to be both excited as worried about the announcement. “It might mean it will be easier for us to source quality and original materials to better service our customers, but does it also mean we will need to compete with bigger companies, like Apple, to continue to receive the reparations to our businesses?”.
The statement of Apple is; and we quote; "To allow customers who are comfortable with completing their own repairs access to Apple genuine parts and tools.” Is it the end of repair shops?
We contacted our Partners and tech specialists Carlos and Carlos Jr from Hank and asked for their personal opinion;
“Not even close! Apple assures that they will offer original tools and spare parts, as well as repair manuals to carry out the service safely. But this is nothing new. For several years, YouTube has been full of information on how to repair the myriad of models that exist, including Apple devices. And although that has contributed to the growth on number of technicians and being trained better and better, it has not meant that all people want to repair their devices; they always end up coming to us.
In addition to this, the repair costs of Apple's technical service has not caused much competition for distributors. For this reason, we can hope that the price of the spare parts and tools that they sell for the self-service will not be exactly cheap. Just as an example, an iPhone 7 screen change on the Apple website costs us € 171.10. It should be noted that just around that price you will find a reconditioned iPhone 7 on the internet or in physical stores. So no, there is no comparison.”
But if it really wouldn’t make sense, why would Apple make the decision to offer this "self-service"?
“If there is something they have dominated since the beginning of the company, it’s marketing. Faced with the immense Right-to-Repair Movement that has been stalking them for more than a year and a half, in addition to the pressure from the European Union with the new laws in this regard, they searched for an opportunity to look better to everyone, offering an solution without really changing much as it seems at this point. In fact, and I quote, "Self Service Repair is intended for individual technicians with the knowledge and experience to repair electronic devices” so they recognize that to repair you need to be a technician. There is nothing new.”
So, in conclusion, as far as we can tell right now, there's no need to worry. We will still have the same number of phones to repair in our stores, and who knows? Probably more, thanks to a not-so-handy customer who tried to change their screen with an Apple manual ;-)