why so expensive to replace an apple watch screen when brand new series 1 retails at £299. screen repair £189 ???

I'm just guessing that it's the same reason repairs of many devices and appliances cost a large proportion of the original price. When a gadget is manufactured, it is done on a highly automated assembly line where many devices are assembled quickly mostly by robots.

When you do a repair, a single device must be partially disassembled which probably involves a human, at human labor rates. The smaller the device, the harder it is to take apart and put back together since there just isn't room for easy fasteners like big screws. The Apple Watch is very small, so it's almost a worst-case scenario for a repair, especially if adhesives are used to attach the case and/or screen.

I decided to do a Google search on how much it would cost to replace the face on a traditional, non-electronic watch. The prices went from $30 for acrylic, to $150+ for sapphire, to $500-800 to replace a Rolex crystal face. Against that, the Apple Watch screen repair price isn't unusual and seems to fit right into that traditional price structure.

Network 23 put it very well - the biggest expenditure of any business is wages for its employees, and labor rates are determined by how much it costs to 'employ' the technicians and divided by how long tasks they do take to do = math is pretty simple.

Parts are "retail" priced, just like everything else a company sells

Hi

Apple does not offer a screen repair service for Apple Watch.

When service is required for screen damage (whether under warranty, AppleCare+ or out-of-warranty service), the entire device is replaced instead.

I just did another search on how much it costs to repair a TV. For one brand, where a new TV might cost $400-500 new, a repair can cost $300-400. Again, this is because due to the economy of scale, it is much much cheaper to manufacture at high volumes than to repair an individual unit.

The issue is not so much that a repair is expensive, but that automated mass production makes initial assembly very cheap per unit, which makes a single unit repair look expensive.

It is possible for device makers to create easy to repair devices, but they probably would cost much more up front, and be much bigger. We would be back in the 1950s where the only devices that could be portable were very simple like transistor radios, and a smartphone equivalent would take up an entire room. But you could open them up with any screwdriver, and you could replace individual transistors by hand! (Transistors are microscopic now.)

It is because of the side effects of miniaturization and cheap mass production that it is often easier/faster/cheaper to replace an entire device than to attempt a repair. If we want this technology at such small sizes at prices we can afford to buy, easy repairs are compromised.

Parts & Labor?

Never Mind

Having your Apple Watch serviced by anyone other than Apple or an Apple Authorised Service Provider may render it ineligible for any future service from Apple, including chargeable repairs.