A US firm is launching an emergency repair service for broken or damaged smartphones in the UK. Increasingly services are springing up offering quick fixes for the annoyance of cracked screens or broken home buttons. New entrant, iCracked, is hoping its model of sending technicians to customers, sometimes within an hour, will help it win market share.
But critics questioned what impact it would have. The firm already operates in 250 US cities and as the name suggests, focuses mainly on iOS devices but also repairs some Samsung models. The prices it will charge for fixing devices will vary but will average about £57, according to the firm.
"For most people, their phone is an extension of themselves, so when it breaks it can have a huge impact on the way they go about their everyday lives," said founder A J Forsythe. The firm began life in 2010 at a US university where Mr Forsythe was a student.
"I started handing out flyers around campus and people would call me and I’d fix their device," he told the BBC. Growth came fast and the firm now employs 1,000 technicians across the US. Its UK launch will initially be focused in London with 30 technicians which it hopes to expand to 100 next year.
Customers can call out a fixer either via the iCracked website or its app. They then arrange a time for them to come to their home, office or local coffee shop to repair the device. There is a burgeoning industry springing up around smartphone repairs. High street shops offer drop-in services where they can repair phones or tablets in a matter of hours, often more cheaply than iCracked.