[Hardware] Planned obsolescence, is it a myth or a reality?

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A recurring theme in the world of hardware and electronic devices in general is the so-called programmed obsolescence, a "phenomenon" whereby devices are programmed to fail as soon as their warranty period expires in order to force users to buy new devices. Is this a reality, or is it more of an urban myth or legend? In this article we are going to delve into the subject to explain it.

"Planned obsolescence or planned obsolescence is the scheduling of the end of the useful life of a product so that, after a period of time calculated in advance by the manufacturer during the design phase, it becomes obsolete, non-functional or useless" . This is the definition of planned obsolescence, which essentially tells us that devices are designed to fail when their warranty expires.

Is there planned obsolescence?
We are going to be direct: this phenomenon is a myth, an urban legend but one that has a lot of foundation and it is normal that suspicions are generated on the part of the user, and then we will explain why. In any case, to begin with, we will tell you that if a device were programmed to fail at a certain time to become unusable and force the user to send it for repair or buy a new one, don't you think the analysts would have already noticed?

control unit

Imagine, for example, that a PC processor was programmed to fail 2 years after purchase, just as its warranty period expires. With the amount of ethical hackers, security experts and others who analyze their micro code, they would have quickly realized a programming of this type, don't you think? In addition, any electronic component or device can last a very long time regardless of its warranty period, as long as it has been 'treated well' and properly maintained.

However, it is not surprising that this urban legend has emerged, as many devices seem prone to failure as soon as their warranty period expires, or at least to malfunction. For example, Apple is one of the companies most accused of programmed obsolescence because after a few generations their devices begin to work very badly, especially in terms of performance, and although it has been seen that this is because new versions of the operating system are optimizing them For the hardware of the latest devices to hit the market, as we say it is not surprising that this sparks the suspicions of consumers.

Obsolescence has to do with the warranty
Despite the fact that in Europe consumer law establishes that any manufacturer must provide its product with at least 2 years of guarantee, the reality is that when a manufacturer gives a certain guarantee to its product, this period is more than studied. The manufacturer knows its product and its durability well, as well as the potential faults that can be found in them, and based on that it assigns a certain warranty period.

For example, it is common for an SSD to have between 3 and 5 years of warranty because the manufacturer has calculated that with intensive use that is its useful life, but we all know that with normal use an SSD lasts many more years. There are power supplies that have a 7, 10 and even 12 year warranty, and that is because the manufacturer is very sure that their product is good and will last that long without fail. However, failures can of course occur before or after this warranty period, and this probability of failure is determined by the Gaussian Bell.

Gaussian bell

The Gaussian Bell is a mathematical function that, translated into words that we all understand, defines that a device is more prone to failure at the beginning or end of its useful life. That is, when you buy a power supply with a 7-year warranty, when it is most likely to fail is during the first months of use (due to manufacturing defects, for example) or after those 7 years that the manufacturer says, because it is the shelf life that they have previously calculated on their product.

With this we want to tell you that it is not that there is a programmed obsolescence that causes the devices to fail when the guarantee expires, but that the guarantees are calculated to know the useful life of the product with intensive use, so that if they fail before In that period, it is most likely that they had a manufacturing defect and obviously the manufacturer will have to take care of correcting the problem, but it is not because they have programmed the device to fail when the warranty ends so that consumers have to buy a new one.