Consumer electronics market is changing very rapidly. New gadgets are introduced each week, and manufacturers must ensure that their customers buy them accordingly.
Marketers have found a way to convince that we need to buy a new device, although the old performs its basic functions. Their motivation is profit: reducing the time between sales gives more sales in general. Selling phones to one customer every 18 months is more profitable than selling it only one time in ten years. Thus, manufacturers are interested in reducing the time between sales.
Planned obsolescence occurs when engineering meets capitalism. Products are not designed for extended use, they are designed for landfill. In this situation, the engineers did not want to create the best car. They seek to maximize profits through steady sales.
1. Broken glass display
Mobile phones can easily fall. But the broken glass screen and damages from improper handling are not covered by the warranty. Cracks remind awkwardness every time the owner is looking at the display (of the screen still works, just the glass is damaged).
Manufacturers also use glass on the back of their phones, doubling the chances of damage. The rear part of the series iPhone 4 or more recently LG Nexus 4 could be made of-impact material.
The consumer will seek to replace your gadget much faster when it is broken glass.
2. Inaccessible parts
Imagine that after long use, a small but important part of your device is broken, but everything else is operating normally. Service center kindly informs you that the spare parts are no longer available, and that the service of this device is not possible. What can you do? Buy a new one!
Manufacturers usually get more profits from the sale of new devices than the parts. Manufacturers have found a solution to this dilemma: overpricing of spare parts. See the next item.
3. Massive repair costs
Cost of repair of electronics is so high that it is often not worth it to get it repaired. The best option - replacement. Repair companies also usually charge a fee for the cost estimates. This adds to the points to the belief that the customers do not even consider the option of repair of electronic devices.
You can try to recover the gadget itself, however, a number of consumer electronics is now much more difficult to maintain than a decade ago. Some gadgets are protected screws that require a special screwdriver to simply open them. This also adds money to the cost of repairs.
Once open, you may find that the spare parts are no longer available.
4. Missing Features
Very often, when a new gadget on the market, available features intentionally omitted. Many customers will move to the next gadget with a little better especially when it is introduced. A very good example of this: the first iPhone does not support 3G, MMS, universal Bluetooth, not even record video, although these features were recognized standard. Customers stormed shops, when I came out iPhone 3G: There were all these features! But the 2-megapixel camera resolution is unchanged.
New and better opportunities to increase sales. More than 200 new features - this is an important argument for the update.
5. The planned duration of the
Some gadgets have a certain time of operation. When time is up, they fell out of use.
Digital thermometer for wine, I bought my father for Christmas, has a built-in battery that can not be replaced. According to the instructions, battery will last for about 2,000 hours. The guide is not firmware Disposal of battery operation, but it is implied.
When the term of service expires, my father will be spent on a full-featured product. This is great news for the wine industry thermometers.
6. Wear
Our valuable device will never look as good as when they unpacked. Over time, there are scratches, color fade, there are abrasions, coating suffers ... Sooner or later, they will wear out.
Customer wants to replace your old and worn gadget earlier than the one that looks good. Therefore, manufacturers are trying to design electronic devices so that they look like new for a short time, the first scratch will be very soon. The lack of protective covers also helps the process.
7. Heat
Heat is the enemy of electronics. The more the machine as it is encountered, the faster it will spoil.
An example of planned obsolescence in the product design is the placement of temperature-sensitive capacitor in the hottest area of the circuit board, next to the radiator. tEti devices break sooner than others that have been developed better.
Usually customers do not base their purchase decision on the design of the printed circuit board, and usually customers can replace their PCs when they break down.
8. Incompatibility
The new device does not work with older devices. I will replace the old system! Marketers expect exactly this type of reaction from the client when there is an incompatibility.
Incompatibility opens various possibilities for sales, for example, adapters, modernization or complete replacement. They will make your life more complicated. Incompatibility is in the form of device drivers, plugs for sockets, incompatible file formats and file systems, incompatible operating systems, incompatible hardware.
Here is a sample file formats: files documents created in Microsoft Office 2007, ending in x *, for example *. Docx or *. Xlsx can not be opened in earlier versions of Office 2003 ... You can download the compatibility Microsoft Office, but most customers do not know about it, and, therefore, have a new version of Office, or are likely to replace the whole computer because the old was too slow.
9. Pop / Obsolescence style
Style obsolescence occurs when the gadget is in full force, and the only downside is that it is no longer popular. A customer who does not want to be unpopular will have to buy a new stylish gadget. This is because, unlike the hipsters, the popular gadgets enable customers to feel popular.
Marketers using the obsolescence of style, can set a trend (so that customers can purchase the more popular gadgets) and kill the old tendencies (so that customers notice that their gadget is outdated and therefore are considering more new).
10. Warranty Procedures
Warranty is the most important element in the event of trouble. Without it, your defective unit, is likely to become electronic waste. We must keep the receipt and find it when needed.
Even with a valid warranty is time consuming and tedious to get to the store to claim the warranty. When shipping the unit to the manufacturer to pay out of pocket delivery makes the procedure even more unpleasant.