Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

Telecom Equipment Warranty Report: Warranty claims, accruals and reserves rose a bit from record low levels in 2018, but the long-term decline in the telecom network hardware industry continues unabated. Several mergers contributed to the recent increases, while some of the largest industry players continue to increase reliability, cut costs, and drive down their warranty expense rates.
May 14, 2020
Update on the A-Team of Extended Warranties: In a new burst of merger and acquisition activity, two of the top players in the extended warranty and service contract industry are moving things around. Assurant is buying The Warranty Group, AmTrust is taking itself private, and it's selling half of Warrantech to private equity investors.
January 25, 2018
Midyear Computer Industry Warranty Report: Even though numerous industry players have been acquired or have gone private, the remaining manufacturers have continuously cut their warranty expenses from one year to the next. But then along came the iPhone, and now Apple's frequent ups and downs are dominating the industry's statistics.
November 2, 2017
Construction Equipment Warranties: While most of the top industry players are diverse manufacturers of a wide variety of products, some make little besides construction and mining equipment. And these "pure plays" can provide us with clues about the typical warranty expenses of those manufacturers that don't include any details about their claims and accruals in their financial statements.
August 17, 2017
Service Contract Pricing: Blu-ray Disc Players: The price of the product varies tremendously among top retailers. And so does the price of the protection plans they pair with these units. Some plans are priced low because they don't start coverage until the manufacturer's warranty ends, and they don't cover accidental damage. But others vary for more mysterious reasons.
October 13, 2016
Computer OEM Warranty Report: As the industry shifts from desktops to laptops to smartphones, warranty expenses rise as the form factor shrinks. And after decades of competition, a few large players with huge warranty operations are left where once there were dozens of manufacturers.
April 16, 2015
Sports Equipment Warranties: While the makers of sports-oriented vehicles are cutting their warranty costs, those who make the equipment used by players aren't making much progress. Most of them spend about the same percentage of sales on warranty costs now as they did a decade ago.
June 19, 2014
Appliance Service Contract
Market Shares: Though the market has remained relatively flat for years, market shares are changing as online sales are gaining and new players are emerging. Still, six underwriters control 90% of the market share.
October 10, 2013
Telecom Equipment Warranties: Though the totals are down because of all the industry players that have headed for the exits, those who remain are also cutting their warranty expenses. And claims have never been lower as a percentage of sales.
December 23, 2010
VSC Industry Structure: In a business as opaque as the vehicle service contract industry, it's not always obvious who all the players are or how they all work together. And auto dealers who make the wrong choice of partners may not know it for years.
February 4, 2010
Computer Industry Warranties: For most of the major players, sales declines caused relative warranty costs to increase. Turmoil in other industries caused a major PC maker to become the biggest warranty provider in the U.S. And for the lucky few, sales rose and warranty costs fell, despite a tough market full of customers still reluctant to spend.
September 17, 2009
Digital Media Warranties: Digital music players and digital cameras, despite prices that sometimes surpass several thousand dollars, are never warranted for more than a year. Some manufacturers will cover labor charges for only the first 90 days, which pushes these units right to the edge of disposability, given the cost of repairs.
August 15, 2006
Extended Warranty Association: A new trade group aimed at vehicle service contract administrators plans to focus on certifying inspectors and other business issues, leaving the lobbying and legal efforts to others. But is that enough to attract the big industry players?
February 22, 2006
Extended Warranties: Heard of NAT? Even some within the automotive and insurance industries the company serves haven't. But with marquee clients such as Universal Warranty on board and a focus on meeting and greeting industry players, all that's about to change.
October 20, 2003
The Warranty Week 500 Most of the major players in warranty claims management recently reported details about their warranty reserve funds, claims and accruals during the second quarter. Here are the summary results.
September 8, 2003
Introducing the Warranty Week 500: Most of the major players in warranty claims management recently reported details about their first quarter spending. Here are the results, organized by industry.
June 9, 2003