the policy of deliberately limiting the life of a product in order to encourage the purchaser to replace it
Also called: built-in obsolescence
planned obsolescence in American English
noun
a method of stimulating consumer demand by designing products that wear out or become outmoded after limited use
Also called: built-in obsolescence
Word origin
[1965–70]This word is first recorded in the period 1965–70. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: Finlandization, T cell, hired gun, no-fault, red-eye
Examples of 'planned obsolescence' in a sentence
planned obsolescence
Is this an example of planned obsolescence?
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Have the manufacturers embraced that old car scam of planned obsolescence?
The Sun (2017)
If the days of planned obsolescence can be consigned to the past, production can become much cheaper.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
We learnt to shop for recreation, for status, for fantasy, we stopped repairing and making do and tolerated planned obsolescence.