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Mobile phones: mobile repairs explode during the summer

2020-08-04T07:01:30.187Z


Broken screen, oxidized phone, battery that no longer holds a charge: during the summer, laptop repairers register a sharp increase


Found at the bottom of the pool, on the beach, half buried in the sand or scorching in the sun on the balcony table: our smartphones die hard during the summer. The proof is that the mobile repair market is exploding in July and August. WeFix, the market leader, recorded a 40% increase in activity in 2019 during the summer season.

“It's a phenomenon that we observe every year,” says Édouard Menantaud, CEO and co-founder of WeFix. And to add that “many are those who take advantage of the holidays to have their smartphone repaired. And then when you leave, failing to take your computer with you, you use your device a lot more. The broken screen that we endured for months then immediately becomes more annoying. "

During the summer, WeFix outlets located near the coast are booming. The Angoulins-sur-Mer store (Charente-Maritime) is used to doubling its activity in July and August. The same goes for Les Artisans du mobile, a company that has two repair shops in Bordeaux and Paris. "Thanks to tourists, our Bordeaux point of sale recorded an increase in activity of 40 to 50% in the summer", underlines Ludovic Duflocq, director and founder of the company.

The rice bag technique

Broken screens after an impact represent the vast majority of smartphone accidents. For WeFix it is 50% of its interventions. “During the holidays, we do a lot of activities, we move more than usual and therefore we increase the risk of the device falling,” explains Édouard Menantaud. In the shop of the Artisans of the mobile, the price for a change of screen of an iPhone XR is 199 euros.

Who says summer, says swimming with your phone that you forget in your swim shorts pocket. After immersing the device, Edouard Menantaud is categorical: “Above all, you must not plug it in to avoid a short circuit. »You can place it in a bag of rice which will absorb the water before taking it as quickly as possible to a repairer. “We shouldn't wait too long. Especially if it has fallen into seawater full of salt, otherwise the interior will rust and you can no longer do anything ”, he explains. So avoid putting your phone in water or in an environment that is too humid. "Even if it is waterproof", emphasizes Ludovic Duflocq. Count 59 euros for a deoxidation of your smartphone at the Craftsmen of the mobile.

Sand and sun, enemies of mobiles

Another enemy of our phones: sand. "It's a real wound, it infiltrates everywhere, especially at the level of the charging connector that it can damage", warns Edouard Menantaud. Conclusion: Avoid taking your phone with you to the beach or leave it safe in a pocket of your bag. “You have to be aware that when you bring your phone to the beach, it's like taking your computer”, recalls Edouard Menantaud.

Also be careful not to leave your phone in direct sunlight. "We have a lot of requests to change the battery due to the phones that have caught the heat," says Ludovic Duflocq. While most phones are equipped with an automatic standby system in the event of overheating, the heat can seriously damage the batteries and drastically reduce the autonomy of your smartphone. Changing the battery of an iPhone XR will cost you 69 euros at Les Artisans du mobile.

At WeFix, more than 20,000 repairs per month

It all started in 2012, Edouard Menantaud and Gaspard Konrad, who used to repair their friends' smartphones, launched the mobile repair start-up: Allo Smartphone. Two years later the company changed its name to WeFix. Very quickly the company developed and had around thirty points of sale in shopping centers as of 2015. WeFix then set up in Belgium and developed the sale of refurbished smartphones. In 2018, the start-up was bought by the giant Fnac Darty and became a subsidiary of the group. Today, the company has more than 100 shops, 300 employees and performs more than 20,000 repairs per month.

Source: leparis

All business articles on 2020-08-04

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