From his basement in Granite Falls, Minn., 21-year-old Blake Paulson uses a paper clip and other pry tools to operate on scores of iPods sent to him from around the country. Some have worn-out hard drives. Others have broken screens. Then there was that iPod that fell into the toilet.
“I used gloves for that one,” Paulson says.
His online business Save 15% on Your Next Domain Purchase. Click Here., IFixiPodsFast.com, is part of a booming new industry: third-party iPod repair. Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Latest News about Apple commands 72 percent of the market share for portable MP3 players and has sold more than 100 million iPods since 2001.
The product’s popularity and Apple’s limited warranty policy, plus iPods’ susceptibility to abuse, have created a business opportunity for Paulson and other iPod doctors.
Parts Plus Labor
At least a half-dozen iPod support businesses have popped up on the Web, including iResQ.com, iPodRepairSquad.com and iPodMods.com.
These businesses attract customers from near and far who are willing to mail in their iPods to have them repaired instead of replaced (new models, except Shuffle and Nano, start at about US$250). Paulson charges $5 for diagnostic testing (waived if he does the repairs) and $20 for installation plus the cost of parts.
“It’s been a pretty lucrative business,” says Paulson, a self-described tinkerer who receives an average of 10 iPods a day and brought in $20,000 in his four months of business. “I’ve gotten one from every state, including Alaska and Hawaii.” In February, after one of his video tutorials appeared on a popular tech Web site, his site drew 50,000 unique visitors, he said.
Some repair services inspect broken iPods for free; Paulson is among those that charge a small fee. If you opt to go ahead with repairs, you pay for parts and labor. They’ll also sell you the parts if you want to try to fix your own iPod. Paulson has even made a set of acclaimed video tutorials on iPod repair that also appear on his site.
No Opinion From Apple
Most of his customers are people who own iPods that have broken after their warranty expired. Generally, Apple offers a one-year limited warranty on all iPod models sold. You can extend that warranty if you buy Apple Care coverage.
Going to a third-party repairman during the warranty period automatically voids the warranty, said Apple spokesperson Tom Neumayr. He declined to comment on what the iPod maker thinks of the third-party repair industry.
“The majority of our customers are extremely happy with their iPods,” he said, adding that Apple’s “genius bars” offer face-to-face service, and troubleshooting tips are available online.
Those who aren’t happy sometimes air their complaints publicly. In 2003, two brothers who bought iPods made a film widely circulated on the Internet about their experience when one brother’s iPod battery died. Called “iPod’s Dirty Little Secret,” it highlighted a problem at the time — Apple charged $250 to replace the battery. Apple has since reduced the replacement fee to $59 plus shipping.
Common Ailments
Paulson, who owns seven different iPods, said he treats a variety of problems. The most common ones are broken screens or failed hard drives resulting from the user dropping the device too many times. He replaces a lot of scratched cases.
Such problems are common with portable gadgets. The unit is prone to take a beating, and no iPod is meant to last a lifetime, one technology analyst said. It’s so thin that people often put it in their back pockets, then sit on it and break it into two, said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group based in San Jose, Calif.
“Apple’s living on churn. They want you to buy one every two years,” he said. The company is good at fixing iPods during the warranty period, but after the warranty expires, repairs can get expensive, Enderle said. Enter the independent repairmen.
Under the Hood
Paulson discovered he had a talent for fixing iPods last summer. His ex-girlfriend’s little brother broke his iPod. Paulson, who had experience fixing computers, took a stab at operating on the iPod. It worked, and he delivered the refurbished gadget to his first customer.
He then started buying broken iPods on eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) Latest News about eBay, fixing them and reselling them. “That was when I was in college and it was good spare money,” said Paulson, who graduated from Ridgewater College in Hutchinson, Minn., with a degree in network Get FREE CDN for 3 Months. PEER 1 Dedicated Hosting. Click Here. systems administration. Last fall, he launched ifixipodsfast.com, a site that provides both technical support and information for people who want to do repairs themselves.
To open the iPods without wrecking them, he uses a steady hand and a simple set of “pry tools.” They just have a thin plastic edge. You get them in between the plastic and the metal casing and they simply pop open,” said Paulson, who also uses a set of Torx screwdrivers and a paper clip.
“Those are for the iPod mini,” he said.
He works on all the different models and generations, except for the Shuffle, the cheapest in the iPod family. It would cost more to fix it than to replace it.
What will happen to Paulson if iPods go out of style?
“I’m sure they will. It’s a fad. I think there will be a lot of integration Free 30-Day Trial. Seamlessly Integrate UNIX & Linux systems with Active Directory. between cell phones and iPods. I’ll start tackling those as well,” he said. “I’m always there to tinker.” [via]
