Remember when your parents bought one TV and it lasted eight, ten or even 15 years? Not so much with LCD TVs.
Service staff at a electronics discount retailer as well as a technician at a repair service told German website Golem.de that the average LCD TV from any major brand, including Toshiba, Sony, Samsung, or Philips, is built to last "just about three to four years" when used for about five hours per day. Some TVs may last longer, but it is a matter of luck to find such a TV.
The TV repair technician noted that today's "TVs are built in a way so that they break soon." However, those defective TVs do not go to repair services, they frequently are simply being replaced as parts are expensive. No customer ever requested a panel replacement for their TV, the repair technician said. Panels are usually more expensive than the entire TV, which, however, has apparently created a lucrative back market for some repair services.
Only "older people" would be interested in repairs today, the technician said: The share of defective TVs being sent to a repair service versus those that are simply thrown away is about 1 in 10, the employee estimated. He also added that it would be no problem to build TVs that last longer, but no manufacturer would be interested in making that effort and count on replacement sales instead.
I'm betting it falls on the side of using a part that they have instead of spending time and money to develop a longer-lasting one rather than saying they are intentionally using sub-par parts. At least that's the way they'd probably swing it to avoid trouble.
Also, minor fault in the article - Philips doesn't make TVs any more. (Interestingly, the only big-screen flat panel I've bought is a Philips, and it has lasted longer than I expected it to.)
and backed up with facts from...his experience fixing broken TVs?
this is sound evidence.
As soon as the average consumer is willing to pay more for a thicker but longer lasting TV they will start making those. But I seriously doubt that will ever happen. Most people want a new TV in 4 years anyway.
Who says they don't do that already?
LG 60" (PDP) - failed after 13 months - PDP failed - repaired under extended warrenty
LG 50" (PDP) - failed after 3 years - PDP Failed - dead and dumped
LG 47" (PDP) - failed after 4 months - PSU Failed - reapaired under warrenty
2x Tevion (PDP)(LG) 42" - failed after 3 weeks (2 different households) - PSU Failed - repaired under warrenty
Tevion 47" (LCD)(Samsung) - failed after 7 years - PSU Failed - self repaired by me.
I've got 2 tube tvs one a sanyo 28" which has run for 18 years and now the kids use it for their video games and a sony 32" which has run for 15 years which the kids also use for gaming.
As for faults on PDP tvs I've seen mainly panels fail and go into dead-short state or the psu fail or the BGA chips just fail or go dry jointed, with LCD tvs its usually the PSU or BGA chips going faulty or dry jointed, I partly blame the solder used for the connections as the non-lead based stuff goes brittle and fails, but you'd think in this solid-state era that stuff would be much more reliable but sadly it's not the case.
The only reasons for me to "upgrade" would be (a) a bigger size and (b) move from HDTV to 4K.