Third-party mobile repair shop visit: chain brands are rolling prices, individual stores are more laid-back.

From communication tools to audio-visual entertainment, from business office to online shopping... Smartphones have become a necessity in everyone's life. With the emergence of more new technologies and concepts, the usage scenarios and frequency of smartphone use are constantly increasing. Hardware failures such as black screen, cracked screen, and inability to charge are things that almost every consumer may encounter.

When problems occur within the official warranty period, the first choice for users is naturally the brand's after-sales service. But what if it's beyond the warranty period? Some friends will still choose third-party repairs after considering the price.

The third-party mobile phone repair industry is mixed, and the prices, quality, and services vary from store to store. One day in late April, Xiao Lei randomly visited two third-party mobile phone repair shops near his residence. Now let's take a look at the experiences we may encounter.

Mobile phone repair business is not easy

As the country with the highest number of mobile phone users in the world, the huge user base provides a broad development space for the mobile phone repair industry. The rise of smartphones has brought about an era of dividends for the mobile phone repair industry. Internet jokes like "open a phone repair shop for 4 years and buy 2 houses" have attracted countless players to enter this track.

According to data from GfK, the number of registered mobile phone repair companies in China from 2015 to 2019 was between 50,000 and 90,000, indicating a very active market. However, as the smartphone market approaches saturation, the mobile phone repair industry is also directly affected.

Perhaps due to differences in statistical methods, the number of registered mobile phone repair companies in China in 2023 found by Xiao Lei is even lower than the 3706 shown in the chart. According to the latest data from Qichacha, the number of companies registered in 2023 with the business scope of "mobile phone repair" is only 1144, a decrease of nearly 99% compared to the peak registration in 2017.

This is a heavy blow to any industry, resulting in a direct decrease in the density of third-party offline mobile phone repair stores, especially for larger chain brands. However, Xiao Lei, who is located in the densely populated first-tier city of Guangzhou, still sees many mobile phone repair stores in his daily life.

Xiao Lei borrowed a damaged screen version of the OnePlus 8T and a battery-deficient version of the iPhone 8 Plus from a friend. The reason for choosing them is simple: the screen and battery are common areas of damage for smartphones. He believes that today's store exploration experience can provide valuable reference for everyone in front of the screen.

Chain brand vs individual business, who lost?

For the sake of objectivity, Xiao Lei specifically chose to experience two different types of mobile phone repair shops, one being a chain brand and the other an individual business. Currently, the Chinese mobile phone repair industry is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, and the market is relatively decentralized. Overall, it is still in a state of "countless small ants sharing a big cake." I believe that focusing on experiencing chain brands and individual businesses can get close to the pulse of the industry.

The first stop was a mobile phone quick repair center located in a certain urban village. It was called a center, but it was actually a small storefront of about a dozen square meters, forming a harmonious whole with the rookie stations and photo studios on both sides, with a sign listing the services it could provide.

Upon entering the store, Xiaolei first saw the repair table with some years on it and the mobile phone accessories placed behind it. It seems that the configuration of one person and one table is the support for all the repair business of the store. Xiaolei went straight to the point and inquired about the reason for the appearance of green lines on the screen of the OnePlus 8T and the cost of screen replacement. After obtaining Xiaolei's consent, the store owner didn't say a word and first removed the phone film, then carefully inspected it, and judged that it was caused by the internal screen. The only solution was to replace the screen, with a quoted price of 480 yuan. The cost of replacing the battery for another iPhone 8 Plus was quoted at 160 yuan.

Little Lei, who has years of experience in repairing mobile phones, thinks the price is a bit high and feels there is room for negotiation. He continues to inquire about the new screen, and the shop owner does not tell him the specific manufacturer, but he says the new screens are all domestically produced original screens, so the price will be higher, but the quality will be better. If needed, he can immediately source the goods.

During Little Lei's conversation with the shop owner, a seemingly familiar customer also inquired about mobile phone-related issues, but ultimately no deal was reached. The shop owner tells Little Lei that this was not the case a few years ago, and it was common to queue during peak times for phone repairs. Now, it has become mainly about doing business with regular customers, and it seems difficult to restore the previous prosperity.

After leaving the store, Little Lei continues to quietly observe the situation of this repair shop, but even after leaving, no deal was reached.

Similar situations are not isolated incidents. Not far from the urban village, there is a chain brand store that operates a mobile phone repair business. Compared to the individual shop just now, the location conditions of this store are much better. Perhaps for this reason, the rent is estimated to be higher, and the storefront is more cramped, not very eye-catching among the many street shops. However, the visual experience brought by the decoration of this store is obviously better than that of the individual shop, although the level is still unknown, it at least gives a professional feeling.

There are two shop assistants in the store busy handling repair business. Xiao Lei raised the same question, and one of the shop assistants just glanced and said it was an internal screen problem. Then, according to the phone model, they checked the screen replacement price in the system. Surprisingly, the chain brand quoted 368 yuan, which is 112 yuan lower than the individual merchant. The price for replacing the battery of iPhone 8 Plus was 169 yuan, not much different from the individual merchant.

However, Xiao Lei was more concerned about the slogans on the wall, such as "online quotation," "door-to-door repair," and "xx days warranty." To ensure the authenticity of the service, Xiao Lei also operated the phone for verification while consulting the shop assistant. The platform clearly listed the specific pricing and warranty days for different brands, models, and repair categories. It has to be said that the chain brand is indeed doing better in terms of price transparency compared to individual merchants.

Xiao Lei found that the chain brand has a relatively complete layout of stores in China, and should be considered a company with a certain scale in the mobile phone repair industry. The overall service also has the appearance of a chain brand, at least there is after-sales guarantee, unlike individual businesses that only make verbal promises. If the store does not acknowledge, consumers are probably helpless.

In the end, Xiao Lei decided to choose the repair plan of this store, mainly because of the price and after-sales service. Although it was his friend's money, the cost-effectiveness was quite attractive, not to mention the 180-day warranty service.

After waiting for about half an hour, Xiao Lei received the two phones. After testing, the green line on the OnePlus 8T screen completely disappeared, and there were no objections during the screen pressing and sliding process. The battery life of the iPhone 8 Plus has also returned to normal, without the previous rapid power consumption when watching videos. However, the third-party battery cannot display the battery health status, so we can only hope that the new battery can last longer.

In general, this mobile phone repair was satisfactory. Most consumers are willing to accept third-party mobile phone repairs when they can fix their phones at a lower price. According to the latest feedback from friends, both phones are currently working fine. If there are any abnormalities in the future, Xiao Lei will provide further feedback.

In conclusion, the experience of this day has shattered Xiao Lei's previous inherent impression of the mobile phone repair industry. Traditional individual businesses often rely on more cost-effective prices to attract customers due to the lack of brand value. However, for individual mobile phone repair businesses accustomed to "one-time business," increasing single-time profits may be more important.

This results in individual businesses having more bargaining space than chain brands, earning money from customers who are unaware of the market or are in urgent need of repairs. Not all individual businesses are like this, but in terms of price transparency, individual businesses are far inferior to chain brands.

Of course, whether it is an individual business or a chain brand, compared to the official screen replacement price of 800 yuan, the prices of both stores can be considered cost-effective. However, the screen quality is hard to judge because the screen was just replaced, and Xiao Lei finds it difficult to give a definite evaluation. Obviously, the quality of official repairs is more reassuring to consumers.

In terms of store hardware, chain brands pay more attention to location selection and decoration, and the equipment in the store also looks more updated and comprehensive. Individual businesses also have their own advantages because they do not have rigid requirements for location selection and decoration, resulting in lower investment costs. If the same purchasing channels are used, after deducting the price difference caused by sales volume factors, consumers have more bargaining power, depending on whether you can negotiate the price.

In terms of service and after-sales, individual businesses are obviously unable to provide cross-regional door-to-door repair services, and after-sales are entirely dependent on personal conscience. On the contrary, these are the advantages of chain brands. The development of the Internet has accelerated convenient and efficient door-to-door repair services, coupled with a complete after-sales system. O2O platforms for smartphone repair have put considerable pressure on offline stores.

Perhaps due to the downturn in the industry, the two stores experienced today are not just single mobile phone repair shops, but also provide computer repair, recycling business, and even individual businesses provide broadband installation services. Even so, the customer flow is not particularly high. Obviously, facing the overall downturn in the industry and the impact of mobile phone brand quality assurance services, it is difficult to sustain a single mobile phone repair business.

At present, the internal competition among mobile phone brands has spread to brand concepts, from product integration to after-sales service. It is not only about improving the brand's full-service process but also about finding memorable points for consumers to remember.

From Xiao Lei's visit and observation of third-party mobile phone repair shops, the pressure that mobile phone brands bring to the third-party mobile phone repair industry is much greater than imagined, and this pressure will continue to increase. However, this does not mean that third-party mobile phone repair shops will gradually disappear, as there is still a part of the population that values their cost-effectiveness.

Perhaps this is the significance of the existence of third-party mobile phone repair shops. The replacement cycle for most consumers is relatively long, and for problems that can be solved with minor repairs, there is no need to replace the phone. Faced with the high-priced repair services of official after-sales, third-party mobile phone repair shops are the choice for more people.