Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

U.S. Auto Warranty Metrics: In 2019, warranty metrics improved for Tesla and deteriorated for GM and Ford. While Tesla still sets aside the most funds per unit sold to finance future warranty costs, its current claims rate is one of the lowest in the business. And while GM and Ford spend less per vehicle, their vehicles also cost less, and their costs have been rising for several years in a row.
March 5, 2020
Apple's Warranties & Service Contracts: While AppleCare is still the biggest extended warranty program in the world, it hasn't grown much in years. And while Apple is spending more on product warranties than either GM or Ford, that's not growing either. No wonder investors are spooked by the company's future prospects.
November 15, 2018
New Home & Building Materials Warranty Report: The name of the game is stability. Some of the builders and their suppliers have gotten very good at accurately predicting their future warranty costs and keeping them stable. Others let them rise and fall without much of a thought about warranty management. And it's easy to see the difference relatively quickly in a chart.
May 26, 2016
Electrical Power Equipment Warranty Report: While the warranty expenses of most of these manufacturers are generally low, there hasn't been much of an effort to drive them even lower. However, some companies that are seeing costs increase are still cutting the amount they set aside for the future.
June 25, 2015
Warranty Workshops: Warranty can have a massive effect on customer satisfaction. And the loyalty of the customer can have a massive effect on future sales and profitability. So how to balance the protection of a company against the contentment of its customers?
March 5, 2015
Automotive Warranty Report: For the first nine months of 2013, claims are up a bit from 2012 levels while accruals are down. More importantly, the percentage of revenue spent on warranty work is down as well. That means manufacturers expect to see lower warranty costs in the future, as they make more reliable vehicles that cost less to repair.
January 9, 2014
Warranty Software Report: IDC Manufacturing Insights has documented the spectrum of claims processing tools available to warranty providers and extended warranty administrators. And like it did in March with its warranty analytics vendor assessment, the crew once again looked at each company's current capabilities, target customers, industries served, and future strategies.
July 26, 2012
Warranty Experts: Attendees of this year's WCM Conference will have a rare chance to not only learn from the experts, but to engage them in lengthy question and answer sessions about the past, present and future of the warranty industry. And those who haven't learned how to be in two places at once can watch it all later on video.
February 23, 2012
Warranty Adjustments, Part 2: In the past few years, a small group of companies has made repeated and relatively large upwards adjustments to their warranty reserves. Are they simply bad at predicting the future? Or have they found a way to make their warranty costs look lower than they really are?
November 3, 2011
WCM Conference, Part Three: The future of the consumer electronics industry was the subject of a panel discussion that brought together retailers, manufacturers, repair service providers, insurance underwriters and extended service contract administrators to talk about everything from OnStar to iPhone.
March 24, 2011
Warranty Management: Value and price are affected by product quality, which can be measured by fluctuations in warranty cost. But warranty is too often treated as merely a cost that must be reduced, without heeding its link to quality, price, and ultimately profits. And warranty is very different from accounting in that a big part of the job is using probability functions to predict the future.
October 16, 2008
Warranty Reporting vs. Analytics: One turns the past into charts. The other turns the future into actionable items. But some people who know the difference between the two don't want to talk about it, for fear that they'll lose an edge on their competition.
July 11, 2006
Warranty Reserves: Over time, both companies and industries make consistent choices regarding how much revenue to put aside to fund future warranty claims, reflecting the outlook of their forecasters.
May 9, 2006
Global Services: Solectron helps major electronics companies design and manufacture their products, but in the future it sees a major opportunity to expand its operations in warranty repair and even recycling services.
June 14, 2005