IS APPLES NEW INDEPENDENT REPAIR PROVIDER PROGRAM A BLESSING OR A CURSE? Spoiler Alert I've Seen This Movie Before!

I had to double check my calendar last week to make sure it wasn't April Fools Day. Apple, you see, stunned the tech repair industry with the announcement that they would do a complete 180-degree turn on allowing independent repair of their products by now offering select companies access to, "... Apple-genuine parts, tools, training, repair manuals and diagnostics...". Whhhaaaaat?

This strange announcement stood out to me as more than a little bit odd since Apple has fought the independent tech repair industry tooth and nail (or by pentalobe screw and tons of glue if you prefer) for decades. Their early morning press release reminded me of the 2014 iFixit April Fools Day prank that had the repair community dazed and confused at the possibility of iFixit and Apple working together. Yah, right! Had someone started August Fools Day???

Truth is it was announced on August 29, 2019, the end of Summer, far from April and seemingly not a new "Fools Day"! The Apple press release titled, Apple offers customers even more options for safe, reliable repairs caused a small wrinkle in time and space. For those of us in the tech repair industry it was like that super hot girl in high school that we had lusted after for years suddenly sending us a text saying, "YOU UP?".

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? 

DOES APPLE REALLY LIKE US NOW?

SHOULD I BUY TWO TICKETS TO HOMECOMING?

Slow down big boy! Let's think this thru before you produce a 'will-you-go-to-the-big-dance' video using an elaborate array of refurbished LCD screens you pulled from phones you worked on over the summer.

On the outset the new Independent Repair Provider (IRP) program looks like a win for independent repair. After all we've all wanted:

• Genuine Apple parts - although most parts in the market now are just as good and made by the same companies that the make genuine parts. 
• High quality tools - although iFixit makes damn good tools for repair.
• Training for repair - although some pretty awesome repair people seem to always produce videos to help us already.
• Repair manuals - although repair people around the world have produced mainly opensource manuals for decades.
• Diagnostics tools - although professional independent repair people (see Louis Rossmann) often do a better job.

What we don't want is to jump through a bunch of hoops, bend over backwards, change the way we look and then windup getting beaten up by the hot girls boyfriend after we allow ourselves to be used by her to get back at him for not buying her a new iPhone after she cracked the screen on her old one! Right?

WARNING: 

APPLE HAS DONE THIS BEFORE TO KILL OFF SMALL BUSINESS & CONTROL THE MARKET!

The year was 2007 and thousands of AT&T authorized dealers, mainly small business owners like myself, were intrigued by Steve Jobs announcement at MacWorld on January 9th that they would be making the first iPhone and that it would be exclusive to the AT&T network. Rumors of an Apple phone had been around for years with some even saying that Apple would launch their own nationwide network or MVNO. 

Just three years prior to this huge announcement Cingular had purchased AT&T to become the countries largest wireless carrier under the Cingular name in 2004 (Historical note: a year later Cingular purchased the AT&T name and changed Cingular to AT&T). Both of these carriers owe their success to dealers. Small business people who opened up AT&T and Cingular stores all across the nation at a rapid pace to extend service offerings for this rapidly growing industry. As I recall, the ratio of dealers to corporate stores right before the iPhone launch was somewhere in the neighborhood of 70/30. Maybe higher!

AGAIN, with the history lesson WiGoMan??!!

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

During the first half of 2007 EVERYONE in the wireless industry was talking about iPhone (might have had something to do with the PT Barnum of our age pushing it?) but no one knew when it would arrive. As part of the dealer network we were promised a "plan" would be announced at some point and that we would be selling it.

Then on June 11th, at the developers conference, PT Barnum II let the cat out of the bag - iPhone would launch a couple of weeks later at the end of June. We could have closed up shop at that point because no one was buying phones. Everyone was talking iPhone and checking to see when they could buy one. There were leaks galore on new AT&T price plans and early upgrade eligibility. As they became more concrete we notified our customers. 

Then came the bad news that authorized dealers would NOT be selling the iPhone at launch. We were told that the details were being hammered out with Apple and we would get it soon after launch. Suddenly, after being told we would be part of launch the door was slammed shut on this incredible opportunity for us all. On launch day we had lines outside of the doors to our shops early in the morning - people literally cursed at us when we said we would not be selling it. For weeks we turned away OUR customers who wanted to do business with us just like they had for years. Slowly over the next few months our customers left us to buy the iPhone at the Apple store or AT&T corporate locations. Our AT&T sales fell faster than you could say, "wow, that glass screen on the iPhone breaks a lot (which opened a new opportunity for us)!"

The fact was Apple made the decision to not allow the authorized dealer network, filled with thousands of small business owners, sell the hottest wireless device ever. The main reasons they gave were that dealers were not capable of selling this advanced device and that if we just waited Apple would roll out a program that would allow us to become properly trained (Sound Familiar?). They did, however, negotiate a deal with Best Buy during the first year of iPhone to allow them to sell the iPhone in all of their locations.

By the time iPhone finally rolled out to the authorized dealer network I was out of the phone selling business. My 9 year old small business that was featured in the 2007 CTIA publication Winning at Wireless Retail and had specialized in advanced wireless devices like; Palm, Blackberry, Symbian, Linux O/S and Windows devices couldn't even get Apple to take our phone calls.

When they finally rolled out the program for authorized dealers they forced those dealers to make specific changes to their business, insisted they invest in Apple in-store displays, take specific training and only sell the iPhone at set prices. For all of this they were paid only a third of what they would make selling other devices (Sounds a little like this new IRP program, huh?).

Shortly thereafter these small business owners, who were the heart and soul of the wireless industry, were forced to merge with larger dealers and if there locations were really good AT&T would move in and force them out. 

Apple was able to systematically tear down the distribution channel while building their own retail and online empire and in doing so

APPLE DESTROYED A LOT OF 

SMALL BUSINESSES, LIKE MINE

DO YOU THINK THEY'LL DO IT AGAIN?

I've seen this movie before! The IRP program is the start of Apple systematically tearing down the independent repair movement. It will force a lot of small business owners to spend a ton of time and money on becoming what Apple wants you to become. For larger repair chains they will divide and conquer your franchisee owners while promising you a "new program" is on the way. They will do this until Apple has built a strong enough empire to not need you anymore. 

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

I'll breakdown, in more detail, some of the finer points to this news in future blog posts. But keep in mind, the title of the press release from Apple announcing this program was, Apple offers customers even more options for safe, reliable repair. Not, "Apple decides to work closer with small business to help the tech repair industry grow"!

As for me I'll stand with companies like iFixit and The Repair Association, that have demonstrated a desire to help EVERYONE (large & small, business or personal) have the ability to repair what they own and/or make a living doing so. We ALL need to fight for our RIGHT TO REPAIR before it's too late!

Thanks for the read! 

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