Why build in Quality?

[AzBob_imp]

There's a difference between an assumption and an identifiable incentive.

Look at bicycles, as another example. For decades, they were made out of steel, and lasted forever. Those were lean years for the bicycle manufacturers and many went under. A typical steel bicycle frame will, without incident, outlive it's rider. Sell a bike, lose a customer.
So now bicycles are made out of carbon fiber--basically carbon-reinforced plastic. As soon as you get one little nick in the carbon-fiber frame, or a deep-enough scratch, the carbon matrix structure is compromised and the frame is considered used up. Now the bicycle builders Trek, Specialized, Felt, Cannondale, etc. are all making money hand-over-fist because we consumers are more focused on the magazine articles, performance, lightweight than we are about longevity.
And motorcycle reviews pretty focus in the same direction: quarter-mile times, dry weights, hp figures. The longest long-term review of a motorcycle I ever saw was about 9000 miles--barely even broken in.

Correlation does not necessarily indicate causation. In this case, it doesn't. At all. Bicycles are made out of carbon fiber because they are lighter, not because they manufacturer is looking to make the product obsolesce at a faster rate. The consumer's priority is weight first, and and longevity somewhere after that. Also, you're talking about a very specialized market. Very few people purchase multi-thousand dollar bicycles. I have one bicycle, I think it cost around $700, and if I recall correctly, it is made out of aluminum. It will last forever. I might have to replace the cranks or brake discs or something one day, but I won't be buying a new bicycle, ever. In this, more normal range (_many_ people would still balk at what I paid for my bicycle) , these bicycles last (effectively) forever.

Anyway, the thing I'm talking about is the motivation, and I do not believe that there is a durable goods product manufacturer on Earth any more that believes the way to get more people to buy their product is to design in timed failure. The way to do it is to design better products in subsequent product cycles and stoke your marketing department to convince the public their 2 year old Whatsitmobile is now inferior because it doesn't have brand-new feature xyz.