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Originally Posted by wizwor
Warranty is ALWAYS a business decision. I asked why we do not increase the lease on computers from three years to four. The reason? MTBF is 2.65 years. On average, a leased computer will suffer a catastrophic failure within 2.65 years.
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I worded that badly. I meant that the decision to provide a certain length term of support was not necessarily based on their prediction of reliability.
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If Roku or Apple were confident their devices would last more than 90 days they would increase the warranty and put a big sticker on the box advertising that fact. Where do you think all those refurbs come from?
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I didn't know those devices had a higher number of refurbs than other consumer electronics. Even if so, a refurb is both result of a product failed and a product replaced, which can be interpreted different ways. I kinda doubt either Apple or Roku would think it wise to sell a product they felt was likely to break in less than three months.
In addition to marketing psychology, a warranty is determined by them figuring the cost of providing support versus the cost of not providing it. The harm done to a product's reputation by having to replace it is less than the harm done by a customer feeling totally ripped off. It could just as easily be based on a company thinking a product is likely to require
more support as less, depending on the cost:benefit ratio.