geoff wrote:

It also ignores the fact that plenty of electronics is designed to fail,
just like other parts in various commercial goods where there is money
to be made from spare parts

I think its less designed to fail, than its designed down to a price,
not up to a standard.

If uyou have a design that cots 90[p., that in general fails less than
one in a thousand on the line, less than one in a hundred in the home
under guarantee, the fact that 30% fail in ten years is of little
interest to you.

The time alone needed to get an MTBF of 100,000 hours, and the cost,
would probably make your product as uncompetitive as er - a Miele.

Its only when pople actually find the Miele is cheaper in the long run,
that the pressure is on to do better.

It was teh case in cars.

German cars didn't blow up at 80 mph continuous. British cars did.
Japanese cars didn't have dodgy electrics. British cars did.

So peoples expectations changed. They decided they were happy paying
more for something that could in fact be used for more than a drive to
the nearest garage for fixing.