Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

Fourteenth Annual Product Warranty Report: Warranty expenses are down but sales are up, which means a lot of companies have learned how to improve their warranty processes, increase quality, and reduce costs. But the cost reductions have become less steady in recent years, as if there's no more progress to be made. Is that the case? Or is this merely a pause before the next breakthroughs arise?
March 23, 2017
Warranty Fraud Book Released: Although technology -- connectivity, analytics, sensors -- has changed a lot and enabled OEMs to implement much tighter controls and detect fraudulent behavior, the general picture looks quite unchanged and warranty fraud continues to be a challenge.
September 8, 2016
Sports Equipment & Consumer Electronics Warranty Report: While they're not the top sources of warranty expenses, there is a lot of warranty activity in these industries. So rather than bury their claims and accruals in the "other" category, let's take a look at the warranty costs of everything from karaoke machines to golf clubs.
June 9, 2016
Most Improved Warranty Metrics, Part 3: While the short-term changes in warranty expense rates have a lot to do with the recession, the comparisons with 2003 and 2006 data have also identified numerous warranty cost-cutters.
November 1, 2012
Warranty & Mobile Apps: Android and Apple mobile devices, already a huge market for extended warranties and service contracts, are quickly becoming a platform for warranty professionals who spend a lot of time working away from the office.
October 18, 2012
Security Equipment Warranties: The systems that scan baggage, cargo and passengers have to detect every single threat, every single time. And while these systems may require a lot of routine maintenance and warranty work to keep up with the heavy usage, they should never fail to do that job flawlessly. Lives literally hang in the balance.
November 11, 2010
Auto Part Supplier Warranties: Claims are up a bit but sales are down a lot. And while most suppliers have reduced accruals proportionally, at least one seems to have taken an accrual holiday.
June 25, 2009
Computer Warranty Trends: While other industries are seeing claim rates rise and accrual rates fall, warranty providers in the computer industry are seeing claims rise slightly and accruals rise a lot. And it's not so easy to blame those changes on sales declines, or to link them with quality increases.
March 26, 2009
Warranty Benchmarks: Graphs of all manufacturers' claims and accrual rates don't follow bell curves. They're Pareto distributions, where lots of companies spend small amounts on warranty and a few heavyweights spend a lot.
October 24, 2007
Warranty Stability:  Whether a company pays a little or a lot for warranty claims, the stability of the reserve fund should be preserved. But out of the top 100 warranty providers, only 24 seem to be doing it well, as measured by changes in some key ratios over time.
October 31, 2006
Warranty Conference,
Part Eight: Behind the numbers used in warranty metrics, there's a lot that's left up to the discretion of each company. This makes comparisons somewhat unreliable without a standard set of definitions detailing what is and what isn't a warranty expense.
April 26, 2005
Warranty Claims & Accruals: While some U.S. manufacturers are still preparing their latest financial statements, most of the largest warranty providers have already announced their second quarter claims and accruals. While some of the top 50 are spending more on warranty than a year ago, most are spending less, and a few are spending a lot less.
August 17, 2004