If there was a way to say, make a $300 washing machine last 20 years for only $100 more.. there would be a huge incentive for a new washing machine manufacturer to sell a $600 washer machine guaranteed to last 20 years.
Sure he only made $200 more profit than the guy selling the $300 washer machine, and he lost 3 future sales.. but he has 0% of the market to start with. Not like he has anything to lose.
I suspect we could make a 20 year washer for less than $5000.. but I bet it would still be a lot. Say $2000. And even at that price, still cheaper to the user to throw away the $300 washer every 5 years.
The argument against planned obsolescence is not an economic one but rather one against the immense waste it creates. The so-called "fast fashion" model now employed by H & M and other clothing retailers also falls into this model and it's an established business model in many other spaces as well.
If you create products that need to be thrown out and bought again cyclically, you create a much higher volume of sales. The problem with this is that our current recycling capacity is not able to handle the excess in resultant waste products.
If there was a way to say, make a $300 washing machine last 20 years for only $100 more.. there would be a huge incentive for a new washing machine manufacturer to sell a $600 washer machine guaranteed to last 20 years.
Sure he only made $200 more profit than the guy selling the $300 washer machine, and he lost 3 future sales.. but he has 0% of the market to start with. Not like he has anything to lose.
I suspect we could make a 20 year washer for less than $5000.. but I bet it would still be a lot. Say $2000. And even at that price, still cheaper to the user to throw away the $300 washer every 5 years.