Why is the standard Apple warranty so short compared to other OEM's

Posted by MrMetro on August 4, 2012 03:08 am 40

This strikes me as odd, considering they are a manufacturer of supposedly high-end, expensive hardware how do they get away with including a measly one year warranty with the Apple care extension costing a good deal more.

I believe they have been doing this for some time now? Even as far back as the first iPod as I recall?

Whilst the Japanese OEM's have always traditionally offered longer warranties as well as most of the Asian PC manufacturers offering at least 2 years (often 3).

There's a tinge of some ruthless profiteering in Apple's warranty/support model and I believe they just did the math and came to the conclusion that if you release an aesthetic, functional and tactilely pleasant product people will buy it in hordes regardless, overlook the short-warranty and pay more for the Apple care extension. Apple then ultimately racks in billions more due to earning from warranty plans themselves and by not having to support products which break after 12 month and with which the extended warranty was not purchased.

It has just always dumbfounded me how a premium goods manufacturer like Apple can offer such a piss-poor warranty by default and I think others in the industry are starting to take cues from them too. Before Apple came on the scene Japanese companies offered at least 2-3 years on their laptops and PC's, now many of them are also slashing warranty periods.

For me personally this presents a problem as I had bad experience with Apple hardware where 3 of the devices I purchased from Apple in the last 7 years had developed some kind of hardware defects within 2 years and now when I look at Apple prices, say for Retina MacBook it sort of makes you sick that you have to add an additional $430AUD (More than I paid for warranty for my $5000 65" LED TV) for a 3 year warranty! Because a nearly $3000 PC comes with a measly 1 year warranty!