A finance manager’s MacBook gives up the day before month-end close. A sales director’s iPhone dies while travelling between client meetings. A designer’s laptop won’t charge two hours before a campaign deadline.

On paper, these are device problems. Inside a business, they’re workflow problems.

One broken device can delay approvals, stall client work, lock staff out of files, slow billing and push a team into expensive workarounds. For South African SMEs and mid-market companies, the real cost is rarely just the repair invoice. It’s the time lost while people decide what to do next.

Matthew Robinson, owner of iAssist Apple Repairs, became an Apple certified support professional (ACSP) in 2013. In his experience, many businesses are careful about buying devices but far less prepared for the moment those devices fail.

That matters because devices now sit at the centre of daily operations. A laptop may hold the spreadsheet, design file, inbox, authentication app or presentation needed to keep work moving. A phone may be the tool used for client communication, approvals, banking, calendars and two-factor authentication.

The cost of downtime is bigger than the repair

For a business, a failed device isn’t measured only by the cost of a battery, screen, keyboard or logic board repair. The larger cost is often the interruption around it.

Not all downtime looks like a full system outage. In many businesses, it’s smaller and harder to measure: a delayed approval, a missed handover, a locked file, a postponed quote or a staff member waiting while someone finds a workaround. That’s why the cost of a broken device often sits inside ordinary operating time rather than showing up as a neat line item.

International downtime studies regularly show that the financial impact of an outage can move well beyond the immediate technical fix once lost productivity, missed work, recovery time and knock-on delays are included. The exact figure depends on the company’s size, sector and reliance on the affected device, but the principle doesn’t change: downtime is rarely just an inconvenience.

A failed device can also create secondary costs. An employee may need a temporary replacement. A manager may spend hours trying to recover data or move work to another person, or a client deadline may slip. In some cases, a device that could have been repaired is replaced under pressure because the business doesn’t have a trusted diagnostic process or repair relationship in place.

Most SMEs have buying plans, not repair plans

Many South African businesses know how they buy devices. They know who signs off on procurement, which models they prefer and when upgrades are usually approved.

Far fewer have a clear repair policy.

Who does an employee contact when a MacBook won’t start? Is the device backed up? Should it be repaired or replaced? Is there a preferred repair partner? What turnaround time is acceptable? How will urgent repairs be handled if the user is outside Gauteng?

Without answers, each failure becomes an ad hoc decision. By the time the business has compared options, checked credentials and arranged transport, the downtime has already started.

Where right to repair fits in

Right to repair is often discussed as a consumer issue, but it has direct business implications.

South Africa currently doesn’t have electronics-specific right-to-repair legislation. The strongest local precedent is in the automotive sector, where Competition Commission guidelines that became effective in July 2021 created more room for consumer choice in the vehicle aftermarket, including the use of independent repairers.

Consumer electronics are still waiting for the same shift.

In the EU, a right-to-repair directive adopted in 2024 is moving repair policy in the opposite direction. Once applied by member states, it will require manufacturers of covered products to provide repairs within a reasonable time and at a reasonable price, including beyond the standard warranty period. South Africa lags behind that movement.

Local organisations such as Circular Energy and the Right to Repair Campaign have argued that the country needs to move away from a “pay and throw away” approach to electronics.

For businesses, the lesson is simple. You can’t rely on legislation to solve repairability, turnaround time or device-lifecycle planning for you. Until stronger electronics repair protections exist locally, businesses need their own repair-first approach.

What a repair-first policy should include

A sensible repair strategy can be lightweight. Start with three things.

First, have a backup and access plan. If a laptop fails, the business should know whether files are backed up, whether the user can work from another machine and whether critical accounts can still be accessed.

Second, establish a repair relationship before there’s a crisis. A trusted partner should be able to assess the device, explain the likely repair, advise whether replacement makes more sense and help the business avoid unnecessary costs. For Apple users, a general hub such as iAssist’s comprehensive Apple repair services gives businesses a starting point for understanding what can be repaired rather than replaced.

Third, plan for geography. Businesses with Gauteng-based teams may want to know where physical support is available through iAssist’s Gauteng repair locations, while distributed teams can reduce delays by using a national courier repair service that can collect devices anywhere in South Africa.

Repair is part of business continuity

A broken device will always be inconvenient. The question is whether it becomes a small interruption or a day of avoidable disruption.

South African businesses already think carefully about cybersecurity, cloud systems, insurance and procurement. Device repair belongs in the same conversation. The way a business responds to device failure affects productivity, cost control and client delivery.

The hidden cost of a broken device isn’t always the part that needs replacing. Often, it’s the time lost while the business works out the next step.