Planned Obsolescence: Is It Actually Company Policy or Just Perception
Planned obsolescence is a popular explanation for products wearing out. Here's a more careful look at what's actually happening.
Planned obsolescence describes the idea that companies deliberately design products to fail or become outdated sooner than technically necessary, in order to drive repeat purchases.
Where there's genuine documented evidence
There are some well-documented historical cases of coordinated efforts to shorten product lifespans, and clearer modern examples involve software updates that measurably slow older devices or discontinuing support in ways that push replacement sooner than a device's remaining hardware capability would otherwise require.
Where the claim is often overstated
Many products that feel deliberately short-lived are more plausibly explained by genuine cost-cutting, thinner and lighter designs trading off durability for weight, and manufacturing at the lowest price a market will bear, rather than an explicit, deliberate strategy to engineer failure.