Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

Service Contract Pricing: Refrigerators: The bigger the refrigerator, and the more it costs, the lower the ratio between its list price and the price of protecting it for a given length of time. And the longer the duration of coverage, the more it will cost, though the industry-wide ratio isn't close to a straight line in terms of cost per year.
January 19, 2017
Setting Warranty Policy for Products That Generate Annuity Streams: Most warranty-management analysis concerns warranty as cost, the effect of warranty on customer satisfaction, or the signaling impact of warranty on customers. This article describes a study where the focus was not on the product under warranty, but rather on the effect that warranty length might have on the sales of related peripherals and supplies. These sales generate annuity streams for the manufacturer as long as the product remains in operation. However, cost savings from a shorter warranty period must be weighed against potential lost profit from reduced annuity streams. A shorter warranty policy might cause products to drop out of active use sooner, and the cost savings from a shorter warranty policy therefore might be outweighed by the lost annuity profits.
July 13, 2004