Visit to third-party mobile phone repair shops: chain brands have lower prices, and individual stores are more Buddhist-like

From communication tools to audio-visual entertainment, from business offices 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 smartphones are also increasing. Hardware failures such as black screens, broken screens, and inability to charge are something that almost every consumer is likely to encounter.

If there is a problem with the mobile phone during the official warranty period, the user’s first choice is naturally the brand’s after-sales service, but what if the warranty period is exceeded? Will you choose brand-side repair or third-party repair? Everyone has a different answer, but many friends will definitely choose a more cost-effective third-party repair after weighing the price.

#The third-party mobile phone repair industry is a mixed bag, and prices, quality, and services vary from store to store. One day in late April, Xiao Lei randomly visited two third-party mobile phone repair stores near his residence. Let's see what kind of experience we will encounter.

Mobile phone repair business is not easy to do

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

According to data from Gongyan Industry Consulting, the number of registered mobile phone repair companies in China from 2015 to 2019 was between 50,000 and 90,000, and the market is quite hot. However, as the mobile phone market capacity becomes saturated, the mobile phone repair industry is also directly affected.

Source: Gongyan Industry Consulting Data

Maybe it’s statistics Due to the difference in methods, the number of registered mobile phone repair companies in China found by Xiaolei in 2023 is even lower than the 3,706 companies in the picture above. The latest data from Qichacha shows that the number of registered companies with a business scope including "mobile phone repair" in 2023 is only 1,144, a drop of nearly 99% compared to the registration peak in 2017.

This is a serious blow to any industry. The direct result is that the density of third-party mobile phone repair offline stores has decreased, especially the larger ones. chain brand. However, Xiaolei lives in Guangzhou, a first-tier city with a large population, and there are still many mobile phone repair shops that he can see every day.

Xiao Lei borrowed the screen-damage version of OnePlus 8T and the battery-loss version of iPhone 8 Plus from a friend. The reason for choosing them is simple. The screen and battery are the same as those of smartphones. Damage-prone areas, I believe today’s store visit experience can provide valuable reference to everyone in front of the screen.

Photo source: Lei Technology

Chain brands vs individual businesses, Who loses?

For the sake of objectivity, Xiaolei specifically chose two different types of mobile phone repair stores for experience, namely chain brands and individual merchants. At present, China's mobile phone repair industry is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, and the market is relatively fragmented. Generally speaking, it is still in the state of "countless little ants dividing the big cake". I believe that key experience chain brands and individual businesses can keep close to the pulse of the industry.

The first stop is a mobile phone repair center located in a certain urban village. It is said to be a center, but it is actually a small facade of more than ten square meters. The photo studio forms a harmonious whole, and the signboard lists the business it can undertake.

Source: Lei Technology

Walking into the store, Xiao Lei The first thing I saw was the repair desk of some years and the mobile phone accessories placed behind it. It seems that the configuration of one person and one table is the support for all repair services in the store. Xiao Lei went straight to the topic as soon as he came up and asked the store owner why there were green lines on the OnePlus 8T screen and the cost of replacing the screen. After getting Xiao Lei's consent, the store owner tore off the phone's film without saying a word, then carefully inspected it and judged It was caused by the internal screen, and the only solution was to replace the screen. The price for screen replacement was 480 yuan, and the price for battery replacement for another mobile phone, the iPhone 8 Plus, was 160 yuan.

Photo source: Lei Technology

Has many years of experience in repairing mobile phones Xiao Lei thinks the price is a bit high and feels there is still a lot of room for negotiation. Xiao Lei continued to ask for information about the new screen. The store owner did not tell Xiao Lei the specific manufacturer, but he said that the new screens were all domestically produced original screens, so the price would be higher, but the quality would also be better. If necessary, He can immediately transfer the goods.

While Xiaolei was chatting with the store owner, a friend who seemed to be a regular customer also came to ask about mobile phone related issues, but in the end no deal was reached. The shop owner told Xiao Lei that this was not the case in the past few years. It was common to queue up and wait for mobile phone repairs during peak periods. Now it has become a business mainly for regular customers. It seems that it will be difficult to restore the previous grand occasion.

After Xiao Lei left the store, he was still silently paying attention to the situation of the repair shop, but he did not reach a single transaction until he left.

Similar situations are not unique. Not far from the urban village, there is a chain brand store that operates mobile phone repair business. Compared to the individual store just now, the location of this store is much better. Perhaps for this reason, the store rent is probably more expensive. The store is smaller than the individual store just now, and it is inconspicuous among the stores along the street. However, the visual experience brought by the decoration of this store is obviously better than that of individual businesses. Although the level is not yet known, it at least gives people a professional feeling.

##Photo source: Lei Technology

There are two clerks in the store. Busy with repair work, Xiaolei asked the same question. One of the clerks just took a look and said it was an internal screen problem (I felt sorry for my friend's mobile phone film for a minute), and then checked the screen replacement price on the system based on the phone model. , surprisingly, the chain brand quoted 368 yuan, which was 112 yuan lower than the individual merchant. The iPhone 8 Plus battery replacement price is 169 yuan, which is not much different from that of individual merchants.

However, compared to the price, Xiaolei is more concerned about the slogans such as "Online Quotation", "Home Repair", and "xx Days Warranty" posted on the wall. In order to ensure the authenticity of the service, Xiao Lei not only consulted the store clerk, but also used his mobile phone for verification. The platform clearly lists the specific pricing and warranty days of different brands, different models, and different maintenance categories. It has to be said that chain brands do better than individual merchants in terms of price transparency.

Photo source: Lei Technology

Xiao Lei’s search found that the The chain brand has quite a comprehensive set of domestic stores, and it should be considered a company of a certain scale in the mobile phone repair industry. The overall service is also like that of a chain brand, and at least the after-sales service is guaranteed. It is not like a simple verbal promise from a self-employed person. If the store does not admit it, the consumer will most likely be helpless.

In the end, Xiaolei decided to choose this store’s repair plan. The biggest reason was of course the price and after-sales service. Although I spent a friend’s money, the price-performance ratio is still quite attractive to me, not to mention the 180-day warranty.

After waiting for about half an hour, Xiao Lei got two mobile phones. After testing, the green line on the OnePlus 8T screen completely disappeared, and the screen also disappeared when pressing and sliding. No objections were found; the battery life of the iPhone 8 Plus has also returned to normal, without the light-speed power loss seen in the previous video. However, the health of the battery cannot be seen with third-party batteries, so we can only hope that the new battery can last longer.

Source: Lei Technology

In general, this The quality of mobile phone repairs is still satisfactory. Most consumers are still willing to accept third-party mobile phone repairs when their mobile phones can be repaired at a lower price. According to the latest feedback from friends, everything on the two mobile phones is currently normal. If there is any abnormality in the future, Xiaolei will report back to everyone.

Written at the end

Frankly speaking, this day’s experience broke Xiao Lei’s previous expectations The inherent impression of the mobile phone repair industry. In the traditional concept, individual merchants often rely on more cost-effective prices to attract customers due to lack of brand value. However, for individual mobile phone repair merchants who are accustomed to doing "one-time business", increasing single profit may be more important.

This results in individual merchants having greater bargaining space than chain brands, and they earn money from customers who do not understand the market or are eager to repair. This is not to say that all individual merchants are like this, but in terms of price transparency, individual merchants 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 quotes from both stores are highly cost-effective, but the quality of the screen It's hard to say, because the screen has just been replaced, so it's difficult for Xiaolei to give a definite evaluation, but the quality of the official repairs is obviously more reassuring for consumers.

Source: Lei Technology

In terms of store hardware, chain brands pay more attention to site selection and decoration, and the in-store equipment looks newer and more comprehensive. Individual merchants also have their own advantages, because there are no rigid requirements for site selection and decoration, and the investment cost is lower. If it is the same purchase channel, excluding the difference in purchase price caused by sales volume factors, consumers can negotiate prices more effectively. , it depends on whether you can bargain.

In terms of service and after-sales, it is obviously difficult for individual merchants to provide door-to-door repair services across regions, and after-sales service depends entirely on personal conscience. On the contrary, these two points are the advantages of chain brands. The development of the Internet has accelerated convenient and efficient door-to-door repair services. Coupled with the supporting after-sales system, the smartphone repair O2O platform has put a lot of pressure on offline stores.

Perhaps due to the downturn in the industry, the two stores I experienced today are not just mobile phone repair stores, but are both mobile phone and computer repair, recycling businesses, and even individual businesses. Merchants also provide broadband installation services, but even so, the number of customers is not large. Obviously, facing the overall industry downturn and the impact of mobile phone brand warranty services, it is difficult to maintain a single mobile phone repair business.

At this stage, the involution of mobile phone brands has spread to the brand concept, from products to after-sales services. It is not only improving the brand's full service process, but also looking for opportunities. memory points that consumers remember.

From Xiaolei’s visit and observation of third-party mobile phone repair shops, the pressure brought by mobile phone brands to the third-party mobile phone repair industry is far greater than imagined. And this pressure will continue to increase. But this does not mean that third-party mobile phone repair shops will gradually disappear, because there are still some groups who value their high cost performance.

Perhaps this is the meaning of the existence of third-party mobile phone repair shops. The replacement cycle of most consumers is still relatively long. Problems that can be solved by minor repairs will not be solved. If replacement is necessary, in the face of high-priced official after-sales repair services, third-party mobile phone repair shops are the choice of more people.

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