[Lynx-lynx]

We knew this to be the case, but now they're proving it ....

News Item the Aus Broadcasting Corporation (ABC):

Mobile phones engineered 'not to last'
'It is a common scenario: a customer is nearing the end of a 24-month mobile phone contract and despite taking impeccable care of the device, suddenly and for no apparent reason, it stops working like it should.

University of Sydney Professor of Media and Communications Gerard Goggin said technology companies across a range of consumer goods were increasingly using the "built-in obsolescence" tactic, so manufacturers could "flog" another product.

"It's a concept that has been obvious for a long time in terms of a consumer society," he said.

"And there's a sense now in which the built-in obsolescence in devices is shorter than usual."

He said the mobile phone industry had adapted to the concept by setting up plans that allowed customers to "post pay" on 24-month plans with telecommunication companies, so they could avoid paying lump sums for new handsets.

Professor Goggin said manufacturers used cheaper components in products and experimented with more plastics in an effort to push for a "quick turnover" of products.'

Rest of Article:

Spoiler:

He said the phenomenon first emerged for the mobile phone industry in Hong Kong about 10 years ago.

"That had to do with the conspicuous consumption phenomenon - an intersection between the phones being fashionable and people increasingly wanting to have a new phone regularly," Professor Goggin said.

"It was also catered for by being able to change the features of the phone, such as being able to change the face of a Nokia."

Professor Goggin said there was still a market for longer lasting products - made obvious by the sale of heavy duty cases for mobile phones and other protective accessories - but when it came to the phones themselves, "it was a bit hard to point to example sometimes".

He said Nokia Vertu was an example of a luxury, high-end brand, but companies "clearly believed there was an upside in having built-in obsolescence".

"One of the features of mobile phone culture is novelty," Professor Gerard said.

"People want the latest mobile, and there's still enough innovation in them to justify upgrades, although in three to five years time that won't be the case.

"There won't be that much new in this mobile market, and I feel a bit like that at the moment. I've just got an iPhone 5, why would I want an iPhone 6? There's not much difference in it."

Further down in that Article:
Manufacturers 'dropping the ball' on software

Spoiler:

JC Twining, the owner of 14-year-old Adelaide-based mobile phone repair company Axiom Communications, has been fixing phones for 20 years and said one of the areas that manufacturers were most culpable was software.

Mr Twining said they were "dropping the ball a bit".

"When Apple release a new software update, they release it for the current generation that's out, as well as the previous one," he said.

"They also release it for a couple of older generations, but if you install that, your phone really starts to slow down."

He did not believe it was a deliberate move but said shareholders were "obviously very interested" in getting a return on their investments.

"There is that conflict of interest," Mr Twining said.

"Do they make a phone that people want to replace every two years? Or do they make a phone that the consumer wants and wants to last a long time?

"The tension between shareholders and customers is always interesting to me."

Still further down in that Article:
iPhone 6 spurs 'abnormal' repair numbers

Mr Twining said the longevity of hardware components, such as speakers, microphones and buttons, generally had not changed for 20 years.

He has, however, received an abnormally high rate of repair requests for the new iPhone 6 "from day one" following its launch last month.

Spoiler:

"Previously all the phones could be gripped in your hand while you're walking down the street," Mr Twining said.

"But the iPhone 6 is a much bigger size and people are just balancing them on their hand rather than gripping them, and they're falling."

Another typical repair he made was to the Samsung Galaxy S5 that was released earlier this year, as a water resistant device.

"It's designed to be water resistant and it's pretty good, but the small print says that under no condition is this phone impervious to water," Mr Twining said.

"But people see the adverts and see people falling in swimming pools and think it's fine."

A spokesperson for Apple declined to comment on the lasting integrity of iPhones or built-in obsolescence, but said its recent models had made a new sales record by selling more than 10 million devices in the first three days of its launch.

Samsung did not respond to a request for comment.