File: Breakdowns of smartphones and tablets, how far will we go in planned obsolescence? Today ! Tomorrow ?

Planned obsolescence, a trend that enrages consumers. High-tech products are no exception. Breakdowns of smartphones and tablets would be planned by manufacturers to encourage their renewal. Are there any solutions to deal with it?

If the products released on the market seem more and more innovative, it is impossible to count on their longevity. Indeed, manufacturers do not hesitate to voluntarily limit the lifespan of products to increase consumer demand. A phenomenon that has terrible consequences on the environment, but also on our wallet.

Planned obsolescence is a symptom of our hyperconsumption society, itself drained by ever more materialistic individuals. Consumers frequently eye the latest smartphone, whose aesthetics leave them dreaming. Don't hide, we know you well. It is therefore not surprising that the renewal period for a mobile phone is set at only twenty months. But if we have our share of responsibility in this unhealthy spiral, planned obsolescence mainly results from the strategies of manufacturers in search of profits.

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Increasingly aware of being the victims of planned obsolescence, consumers – which we are – are opening their eyes to this particularly fruitful practice for manufacturers. Technological obsolescence is the best known of all. It consists in limiting, on purpose, the lifespan of a device. In other words, we do everything so that the machine lasts as little as possible. This is especially notable for washing machines, which are known to run up to 2000 to 2500 cycles maximum. Light bulbs are also a very good example. They do not exceed more than 1000 hours of functionality today.

Livermore's Light Bulb

However, the century-old bulb of the Livermore fire station has been shining since 1901. A webcam has even been installed in front of it to testify to it. As far as smartphones are concerned, their lifespan is equivalent to only about two to three years!

In addition, consumers are totally helpless in the face of obsolescence by “functional defect”. This form of obsolescence organizes the entire death of the device from the moment a single and unique part fails. On the side of cell phones, for example, it is enough for the battery to fail for them to become unusable.

This form of obsolescence is also supplemented by indirect obsolescence, which aims to prevent the repair of a product with associated accessories that are no longer available on the market, such as batteries or chargers. Also note that recent technological gadgets are now designed not to be disassembled. It is for example impossible to modify the components of the iPad to make its life more efficient.

Finally, there is a form of obsolescence through incompatibility, which is particularly significant in the smartphone and tablet market. Many terminals, considered too old, will never benefit from the new updates available on recent models. The same goes for downloading apps.

Planned obsolescence is a threat to the environment

You can very well outwit the builders. In order to give your phone a few extra months of life, we have several tips.

If you want to take advantage of the latest “Android” version or the latest “feature”, you don't have to wait for the manufacturer or the operator to take care of it. On our forum, for example, thousands of users get their hands dirty. It takes a "little bit" of knowledge, but it should give your Android device a boost.

On the "hardware" side, most failures concern the phone's battery. Rest assured, if your phone is common, you'll have no trouble getting your hands on a new battery. Pay attention to the origin of this battery. Other "failures" concern the screen or internal elements of the devices. The iFixit site has disassembled a large part of the phones available in stores, so this site can give you valuable information. For example, the level of “repairability”. We know for example that the HTC One obtained one of the worst marks in this test.

Online merchants make it possible to obtain certain elements (screens, motherboards), unfortunately the telephones are often very difficult to “operate”. I therefore advise you to turn to a specialist, without forgetting to ask him for an estimate beforehand.

Finally, if the "cause" of your device is irrecoverable, many sites offer to buy back your device in order to recycle it or resell it in spare parts.

To deal with this phenomenon, Europe Écologie Les Verts, supported by the European Center for Consumer Affairs, has decided to appeal to the law. Indeed, a bill "aimed at combating obsolescence and increasing the lifespan of products" was registered by the Senate on March 18, and will be debated tomorrow, Tuesday April 23. 2013. The text proposes, among other things, to extend the legal duration of conformity of electrical and electronic products, currently two years, to three years on January 1, 2014, four years on January 1, 2015 and five years on January 1, 2016. For each appliance purchased, the consumer should also have access to information on its lifespan. Also very interesting proposal: the consumer should be able to have the spare parts essential for the repair of an appliance within one month, and this for a period of ten years from the date of purchase.

Such a law could thus protect the consumer against manufacturers who favor over-consumption. It would also make it possible to deal with waste, which is particularly harmful to the environment. Waste production has never been so high in France. More than 500 kg of waste are thrown away per person per year, not counting indirect waste from the production process. The ecological emergency is therefore there. Will this awareness be enough to counter the manufacturers? The real question, however, is whether a viable economy is possible without planned obsolescence. Growth at any "cost" is the real driving force behind this phenomenon...

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