Planned obsolescence

Planned obsolescence is a strategy used in economics and industrial design where products are made to have a shorter life on purpose. This means that a product might stop working well or might seem out of style after a certain time, encouraging people to buy a new one. This idea used to be seen as a wild idea, but it is used to keep sales going by making people replace their items more often.

This strategy works best when a company has a strong hold on the market and people tend to buy from them again. The company knows how long the product is designed to last, but customers do not. When more competitors enter the market, products often become more durable. For example, when cars from Japan with longer lifespans came into the American market in the 1960s and 1970s, American car companies had to start making stronger vehicles.

History

In 1924, the American automobile market grew so big that many people already owned cars. To keep selling more, General Motors executive Alfred P. Sloan Jr. suggested changing car designs each year. This made car owners want new models with fresh looks, led by Harley Earl and his team. Although this idea came from the bicycle industry, many people thought Sloan started it. He called this plan "dynamic obsolescence", but others named it planned obsolescence.

This idea changed car making, product design field, and even the whole American economy. Smaller companies couldn’t keep up with yearly design changes. Henry Ford didn’t like this because he preferred simple, lasting designs. GM became the top car company in 1931. The yearly changes also meant cars needed a body-on-frame structure instead of the lighter unibody used in Europe.

The term planned obsolescence was first used in 1932 in a pamphlet by Bernard London. In 1954, Brooks Stevens, an American designer, popularized the term when he used it for a talk. He described it as making people want newer things sooner than needed. Soon, others used the term, and by the late 1950s, it meant making products break easily or go out of style quickly. In 1959, Volkswagen joked about this in ads, saying they didn’t change their cars just for the sake of it. In 1960, Vance Packard wrote about how businesses try to make people always want more in his book The Waste Makers. He described two types of planned obsolescence: making people feel they need something new, and making products stop working well on purpose.

Variants

There are different ways companies may plan for products to have a shorter life. One way is by making the product break down faster. This can happen when companies use weaker materials or designs that wear out quickly. For example, toys with brittle plastic parts can break if played with roughly. Phones and other small electronics often have batteries that wear out fast, and sometimes the battery cannot be replaced by the user, meaning the whole device must be replaced.

Another way is by making repairs hard or impossible. Some products, like certain cameras, are made so that you can only use them once. Other products may have parts that are very hard to fix, like special screws or glue, making it very costly to repair. Sometimes, companies make it so that if you try to use a part that isn’t made by them, the product won’t work at all.

Some products may also stop working on purpose after a certain time. For example, printers may stop working when the ink runs out, even if there is still ink left. This is done through special chips that track how much ink is used. Software can also be made to stop working after a certain time, forcing people to buy new versions or devices.

Alternatives

Perceived obsolescence

When designers change the look of products, people may want to buy the newest styles even if the old ones still work well. This happens because many products are liked more for how they look than for how they work. Clothing is a good example. Designers keep changing styles, so people keep buying new clothes even though the old ones are still good.

Shoes are another example. Companies like Nike make the same basic shoe but change colors and materials often. This keeps people interested in buying new pairs. Cars also get new looks sometimes. This is called a "facelift". It usually just changes the paint and small design details, not the way the car works.

Some electronic products, like phones, also follow this pattern. Companies like Apple products often release new colors or small updates. This makes people feel like they need the newest model, even if the old one still works. Some phone makers, like OnePlus, release updated models every six months. Others, like Sony Mobile and Samsung, also release special versions of their phones partway through the year.

Laws and regulations

Europe

In 2015, France made it illegal for companies to design products to break easily. They can face big fines or even time in jail for doing this. The country also started requiring companies to tell customers how long a product should last and when they will stop making replacement parts. From 2016, if a product breaks within two years of being bought, the company must fix it or replace it for free.

The European Union has also taken steps to stop this practice. In 2023, they voted to support a rule to ban planned obsolescence. In 2024, they made it clear that stores must give accurate information and not force customers to buy replacement parts only from the original maker.

North America

In October 2023, Quebec passed a law to stop companies from making or selling products designed to break easily. In the US, several states like California, Minnesota, New York, and Colorado have passed laws to support the right to repair products, focusing on issues related to intellectual property rights.

Critics and supporters

Some people support planned obsolescence, saying it helps improve products over time. Philip Kotler believes it is just a natural part of competition and technology in a free society.

But others criticize it. They say it wastes resources and takes advantage of customers. Vance Packard points out that many changes to products, especially looks, may not really help customers much. Some suggest working together with designers to make better products that last longer. The Environmental Law Institute says this practice encourages people to keep buying new things instead of using old ones, which harms the environment.

One way to fight this is by reusing materials and recycling products, known as the “cradle to cradle” cycle. This helps keep materials in use and reduces waste. Michael Braungart and William McDonough explain that this problem started during the Industrial Revolution and leads to much waste, often making it cheaper to buy a new product than to repair an old one.

In academia

Russell Jacoby, writing in the 1970s, noticed that ideas and learning follow the same pattern as products made to last only a short time. Just like companies make things that need replacing quickly, ideas can also be made to seem old and out-of-date, keeping people looking for new ones.