Buzz
The consumer electronics industry evolves at an astonishing speed. Fresh gadgets emerge every week, and manufacturers must ensure that customers continue to make purchases accordingly.
Marketers have discovered ways to persuade us into buying a new device, even when our current one is still functioning well. The key motivation is profit: quicker sales cycles result in greater overall sales. Selling a phone to one customer every 18 months is far more lucrative than selling one every ten years. Consequently, manufacturers are keen on reducing the time between purchases.
The phenomenon of products being phased out, discarded, or becoming outdated is referred to as obsolescence. In order to drive sales, manufacturers strive to accelerate this process. The situation becomes more problematic when it’s termed planned obsolescence—where products are intentionally designed to fail after a set period.
Planned obsolescence occurs when engineering meets capitalism. Products are not designed to endure; they are made to end up in the trash. In such scenarios, engineers don't focus on crafting the most durable product. Their aim is maximizing profits through continuous sales.
10. Cracked Display Glass
Mobile phones are prone to dropping, but damage to the display glass and other issues resulting from mishandling are typically not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty. The person who dropped it is reminded of their mistake every time they look at the screen (often, the display still works, but only the glass is damaged).
Manufacturers also use glass on the back of their phones, increasing the chances of the device breaking. The back of the iPhone 4 series, or more recently the LG Nexus 4, could have been made from a more shatterproof material.
A consumer is more likely to replace their device sooner if the glass is shattered than if it remains intact.
9. Out-of-Stock Spare Parts
Imagine that after a long period of service, a small but essential part of your (insert defective device) breaks, yet the rest of the device is still functional. Customer service informs you that the required spare part is no longer available and that the device has been discontinued. What can you do? Buy a new one!
Manufacturers generally earn more profit by selling new devices than by selling spare parts. To address this issue, producers have found a solution: they charge exorbitantly for spare parts. See the next item.
8. Exorbitant Repair Costs
Repair costs for electronics are so steep that it often isn't worth the hassle to fix them. The more sensible option is to simply replace the device. Repair services also typically charge for cost estimates, reinforcing the idea that customers might as well skip repairs altogether.
You can attempt to fix the device on your own, but many consumer electronics today are far more challenging to repair than they were a decade ago. Some devices are equipped with tamper-proof screws that require specialized tools just to open, further driving up the cost of repairs.
After opening the device, you may discover that the needed spare parts are no longer available.
7. Missing Features
It's common for manufacturers to intentionally leave out commonly expected features when launching a new gadget. This strategy encourages customers to upgrade to the next model, which has slightly improved features. A prime example is the first iPhone, which lacked 3G internet, MMS, universal Bluetooth, and even video recording, all of which were considered standard features. When the iPhone 3G arrived, it included all those features! However, the poor 2-megapixel camera remained unchanged.
Introducing new and improved features drives sales. More than 200 new features provide a compelling reason for customers to upgrade.
6. Planned Lifespan
Some devices come with a predetermined lifespan. Once it’s reached, the device is rendered useless.
The digital wine thermometer I gave my father for Christmas has a built-in battery that cannot be replaced. According to the manual, the battery lasts for about 2000 hours. While the manual doesn’t explicitly say to discard the device once the battery dies, it’s strongly implied.
Once the battery life expires, my father will be forced to dispose of a perfectly functional product. That’s fantastic news for the wine thermometer industry.
5. Wear and Tear
Our beloved gadgets will never maintain their pristine condition like when they were first unboxed. Over time, scratches, fading colors, abrasions, and peeling plating take their toll... eventually, they become worn-out.
Customers are more likely to replace their old, worn-out devices sooner than those that still look good. As a result, manufacturers design gadgets to look brand new for only a short time—the first scratch appears quickly. Skipping protective cases also contributes to this process.
4. Heat
Heat is a major enemy of electronics. The more exposed the hardware is to heat, the faster it deteriorates.
An example of planned obsolescence in product design is the positioning of heat-sensitive capacitors in the hottest area of a circuit board, right next to the heat sink. Essentially, the most vulnerable components are placed in the danger zone. As a result, these devices are more likely to fail sooner than those that are designed with better protection.
Most customers don’t consider the design of a circuit board when making a purchase decision, and they will replace their PC when it becomes unstable.
3. Warranty Process
The receipt is the most crucial document in the event of a malfunction. Without it, your broken gadget is likely destined for the trash. Keep that receipt and make sure you can find it when you need it.
Even with a valid receipt, claiming warranty is time-consuming and frustrating. Having to take the device to the store is already annoying, but sending it back to the manufacturer while covering the postage yourself is even worse. In the end, the repair could take up to 4 weeks.
The lower the value of a gadget, the less likely the customer is to go through the warranty process when it breaks down; it’s simply easier to throw it away. Many customers choose to buy a new device instead and skip the whole warranty claim. A lot of them don’t even bother keeping the receipt in the first place. After all, the latest gadget is always sitting on the shelf, waiting to be sold.
2. Popularity / Style Obsolescence
Style obsolescence occurs when the gadget is still functioning perfectly, but the only issue is that it’s no longer trendy. To avoid being seen as outdated, the customer will replace it with the latest stylish model. Unlike hipsters, most people feel that owning popular gadgets will boost their social standing.
Marketers using style obsolescence have the power to establish new trends (encouraging customers to buy the latest popular gadgets) while making older trends seem outdated (prompting customers to think their current gadget is obsolete and consider purchasing a newer one).
1. Incompatibility
The new product doesn’t work with the old one? Time to replace the old one! This is exactly the reaction marketers hope to trigger when they create incompatibilities.
Incompatibilities open up a range of sales opportunities like adapters, upgrades, or full replacements. They complicate your life, showing up as incompatible device drivers, plugs, file formats, file systems, operating systems, hardware, and more—you get the idea.
For example, consider file formats: Document files created with Microsoft Office 2007, such as *.docx or *.xlsx, couldn’t be opened with older versions of Office, like 2003. While it was possible to download the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack, most customers were unaware of this and ended up purchasing a new version of Office—or more commonly, replacing their entire computer because the old one was already too slow.
