Opinion: while planned obsolescence is appealing to producers it works against sustainability and damages the environment in the long term
By Neeta Israni, ATU
Every time our mobile phone breaks or its battery starts giving trouble, even without considering the option of getting it repaired, most of us start looking for the latest models of phones available in the market and we end up buying a new phone. This is because most of us as consumers of electronics, electrical and computer technologies have reconciled to the fact that these gadgets have a limited lifespan.
It can be very cumbersome to get mobile phones, laptops, washing machines, microwaves, tumblers etc. repaired. Most of the time, the repair cost is so high that it only appears logical to add a little more money to this high cost of repair and replace the old broken gadget with a brand-new one. Have you ever wondered why, in this era of technology sophistication which should have led to production of high-quality superior phones and household appliances, our phones and electronic equipment don't always last long?
The answer is "Planned Obsolescence", which means production of goods with uneconomically short, useful lives so that customers will have to make repeat purchases. The history of planned obsolescence dates back to 1924 when the heads of all the major lightbulb manufacturers across the world including Philips, General Electric and Osram, met in Geneva and agreed to cut in half their incandescent bulbs' lifetime. Collectively they decided to cut the lifespan of their bulbs from 2,000 to 1,000 hours. The idea being that if their bulbs fused quickly customers would have to buy more of their product.
We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From Deutsche Welle Planet A, are phone's made to break?
While planned obsolescence is appealing to producers it works against sustainability and damages the environment in the long term. Under French law it is a crime to deliberately curtail lifespan of a product with the aim of making customers change it. A consumer advocacy group called Halte à l’Obsolescence Programmée (HOP, Stop Planned Obsolescence) accused Apple of intentionally causing older iPhone models to slow down in order to push owners to replace them with newer models.
So, on 7th February 2020, France’s consumer protection body hit Apple with a €25 million fine for failing to inform consumers that updating their iPhone's operating system would slow down the device. Investigation of planned obsolescence by commercial entities was made possible in France after 'Hamon’s Law’ was passed in 2015.
Although there is no specific EU-wide law against planned obsolescence, the issue of planned obsolescence is not neglected by the EU and is taking a number of steps to tackle planned obsolescence in Europe. In March 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the European Commission to introduce a "Right to Repair" law. This law would require manufacturers to design products that are easy to repair and that can be repaired by independent repairers, rather than forcing consumers to go back to the manufacturer.
Read more: Elon Musk and the tech dictatorships of the 21st century
Many might be thinking what this fuss is about breaking and dying of the battery of the old phone, as some buy a new phone even when their old phone is working perfectly well. We all know how iPhone fans queue for hours outside Apple stores to buy their latest model. These long queues are formed because corporations create obsolescence through a strategy called the Perceived obsolescence. Perceived obsolescence, also referred to as fashion or psychological obsolescence, happens when consumers are encouraged to replace products using style and other status or aesthetic concerns even though they function perfectly well.
Producers introduce new models at a quick progression and back it with rigorous marketing campaigns to create product desirability to an extent that consumers are then willing to replace their perfectly working gadgets with the latest models. Perceived obsolescence is especially prevalent with fashion, technology, and cars, because these consumer goods have been transformed into status symbols.
Planned obsolescence has been used as a metaphor by green criminologists Brisman and South to summarise how humanity has mistreated Planet Earth. Both planned and perceived obsolescence leads to inordinate waste and to the depletion of natural resources in production processes and thus pose a major barrier to environmental sustainability. When Electronic waste (e-waste) arising from discarded electronics and electrical appliances is carelessly disposed of or dismantled, the toxic substances it contains can contaminate nearby water, air, and soil. This in turn pollutes ecosystems, drinking water and crops, adversely affecting the people and the environment. Planned and perceived obsolescence pose a major challenge to circular economy.
We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
From BBC News Click, how a robot recycles our electronic waste
In September 2014, mobile phone provider T-mobile announced their new contract model in Austria, promising their customers to opt for a new, unlocked phone up to every year. They launched a nation-wide marketing campaign called JUHU! (Hooray!), aimed at motivating consumers, particularly teenagers, to replace and upgrade their phones every 12 months instead of 24 months.
Soon the campaign, especially the TV advertisement, came under fire from eco-friendly consumers and parents who wrote critical comments on the company’s social media, with some even filing complaints to the Austrian advertising council for promoting a thoughtless "throwaway culture".
T-Mobile defended its campaign and answered every critical comment on Facebook and referred to consumer desire for more regular upgrades to explain the new contract model. T-Mobile commented on Facebook: "We assume that we are dealing with sovereign citizens who can decide on their own whether they want to use and test the latest achievements of communication technology’’.
Read more: The many twists and turns in the history of the mobile phone
While manufacturers may be accused of planned obsolescence, can they really be blamed for perceived obsolescence? If blamed for perceived obsolescence probably the most common argument brought forward by the manufacturers would be that they are merely reacting to consumer demand: after all, the customer is king.
Neeta Israni is a PhD student in the School of Business at ATU.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
