“One of the reasons that consumer electronics manufacturers are so sensitive is that their business model is based on their brand reputation,” he said. “The concern that these companies have in protecting their brands — and these products still carry their names on them — is in particular that the repairs will be done wrong or that substandard parts will be included and the customer experience will be different.”

So, a brandname is more important than the quality of a product, according to the manufacturers? And else, which is more important, they're scared that substandard parts will be used when the product is repaired. What standard? Because as far as I know the manufacturers' standard is to break down after two or three years, which I call controlled substandard assembly/manufacturing. Don't they actually gain public trust when their products can be repaired by a (local) technician? If a product can be fixed easily and for an affordable price without too much garbage, I'd go for that brand.

Overproducing a mediocre product doesn't just give a lot of trash, it also gives a wrong attitude towards spending money and certainly lowers the bar for many consumers about quality. Too many people already count in that most products don't last very long, because of the massive scale they are on the market and most consumers also know the bought and paid for products will break down easily, just because of that substandard producing of the products the "brand-names" sell. It creates a form of laziness in the consumers, who find it pretty okay not to fix things, which creates an incentive for the producers to see that substandard as their high standard.

If you can't fix it, don't buy it. :-)