DIY or self-servicing models have been a fast-growing trend in the past decade that has caught the fancy of many entrepreneurial big techs including Apple. Apple recently announced self servicing repair kits for its customers beginning with iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 to perform DIY repairs on the said handsets following a heavy rise in the technological development of tools, easy to use solutions has made it convenient and accessible for customers to engage directly with products and services. And, the investments in such solutions in the recent years have helped validate the demand and excitement about the self-serve trend. Though in 2019, Apple initiated a program that allowed independent repair shops to buy its parts, tools, and instruction manuals; this is for the first time ever that the company will be seen selling spare parts, manuals, and certain tools to its customers under the Self Service Repair Programme starting tentatively in early 2022. Interestingly, this is courtesy of the pressure and toil of consumer groups over the years that urged Apple to give easier and ample access to genuine parts and user-handbooks. Today the tech-giant has approximately 2,800 Apple independent repair shops under its programme that enables Apple consumers to buy genuine parts directly from the shops to perform repairs on their own simply by following the user-manual using which customers can fix the most commonly occurring issues related to the display, battery, and camera. Though this sounds like a great idea, it also makes for a great buzz around how Apple plans to implement its new policy surrounding this programme since the announcement doesn’t say much about it. Programs like these can not only help cultivate a sense of closer relationship with the product and the brand itself, but also help save up on repairs but the extent of its plausibility is something that only time will tell. According to Apple, customers will receive credit following their repair in exchange for old parts. But, more interestingly, if the company prices their parts and tools right, this could mean a great deal of saving money for its customers whether they choose to repair on their own or take it to a local technician. Apple says it will also eventually extend this capacity to Macs. In the US Apple Self Service Repair will be made available early next year and will likely expand to more countries throughout 2022. Indian Apple users can expect to get their hands on this service in the latter half of next year.
10 Jan 2022
Nandita Singh Rattan
