Unexpected Obsolescence

I want another of, or maybe a replacement for, a good product...

Unfortunately, it is no longer available.

One problem is that many manufacturers want to be "everything to everyone".  Unfortunately, this means LOTS of companies will purchase an order of predesigned & produced "white box" product with their logos and marketing info integrated.  The company sells that model until their stock begins to get low, which gives the company an opportunity to re-evaluate whether that product was profitable enough to buy more stock of.  Sometimes the answer is No.

Even when the answer is yes, this long time between stock orders means the "white box" manufacturer is likely to have changed the product to better match THEIR cost/profit ratios.  Sometimes the changes are small and only a few parts are different, but if the product has changed completely it will need all new marketing materials.  That makes it a "new & improved" model they must charge extra for: recoup their marketing investment, and maybe add some tiny, insignificant, additional profits for the shareholders.  These creative business tactics can make it tough for an end user to get correct replacement parts or accessories over the useful life of a product.

How does it affect me?

• When purchasing something cheap
  • I now get all desired accessories at time of original device purchase (more or less)
  • They are not likely to be correct & possibly not even available by this time next year
• Anything being used regularly, becomes important and therefore worth the extra cash for extra quality/reliability
  • This prevents the previous problem almost entirely since most manufacturers with a reputation for quality, typically have that reputation for a reason and will often do whatever is reasonable to maintain those standards