Device lifecycle: Difference between revisions

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Lifecycle means series of stages which something (services, products, ..) passes during its lifetime. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-04 |title=Life cycle definition |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/life%20cycle |url-status=live}}</ref>

Lifecycle means series of stages which something (services, products, ..) passes during its lifetime. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-04 |title=Life cycle definition |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/life%20cycle |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251219075944/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/life%20cycle |archive-date=19 Dec 2025}}</ref>

This article is aimed primarily for physical products at the moment.

Standard product lifecycle consists of multiple phases from manufacturer's perspective:

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##Growth phase (sales increase)

##Maturity phase (sales flatten)

##Decline phase (sales decline) <ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-08 |title=Product Lifecycle |url=https://www.scrum.org/resources/product-lifecycle |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-08}}</ref>

##Decline phase (sales decline) <ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-08 |title=Product Lifecycle |url=https://www.scrum.org/resources/product-lifecycle |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-08 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251213074526/https://www.scrum.org/resources/product-lifecycle |archive-date=13 Dec 2025}}</ref>

#End of life<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-08 |title=PLM: The Future of Product Development |url=https://www.sap.com/products/scm/plm-r-d-engineering/what-is-product-lifecycle-management.html |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-08 |title=Product Lifecycle - Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_lifecycle |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-08}}</ref>

#End of life<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-08 |title=PLM: The Future of Product Development |url=https://www.sap.com/products/scm/plm-r-d-engineering/what-is-product-lifecycle-management.html |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-08 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251107195622/https://www.sap.com/products/scm/plm-r-d-engineering/what-is-product-lifecycle-management.html |archive-date=7 Nov 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-08 |title=Product Lifecycle - Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_lifecycle |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-08 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260206034110/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_lifecycle |archive-date=6 Feb 2026}}</ref>

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#End of life

##Repairs not possible/viable

==How decisions in different phases affect the product==

===Design===

Lifecycle costs are defined primarily during design phase.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-14 |title=How product design decisions can make or break your cost model |url=https://www.manufacturinghub.io/product-design/how-product-design-decisions-can-make-or-break-your-cost-model/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-14 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251024111742/https://www.manufacturinghub.io/product-design/how-product-design-decisions-can-make-or-break-your-cost-model/ |archive-date=24 Oct 2025}}</ref> The impact estimates vary but are usually around 80% probably by reference to [[wikipedia:Pareto_principle|Pareto principle]].

During design phase it is the easiest to affect end result by setting specific goals to end product. For example aiming for thin product instead of relatively thin and easily repairable. The actual differences are usually relatively insignificant.

If you want to hear comments from person being involved in design processes, you should check out for example video by Design Theory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrv45bvP8qo

Other thing playing significant role is spare part availability and general reliability. Are standardised easy to get components being prioritised in the design. Are the designs based on known good reference designs that might lack some performance for example.

===Useful life===

At least some products have repeating redesign rounds when they are being in active production. Some component availability might change and replacements are needed. Or management deems incoming warranty cases too infrequent and they see opportunity to cut BOM costs. As seen in official comment from Milwaukee Tools:<blockquote>Products can change several times within their lifetime for a variety of reasons, but the goal is always to exceed the users’ expectations. This time we clearly did not hit the mark.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-14 |title=Milwaukee 2767 M18 Fuel Impact Wrenc Issue: Official Response |url=https://www.protoolreviews.com/milwaukee-2767-m18-fuel-impact-wrench-issue-official-response/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-14 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251020070625/https://www.protoolreviews.com/milwaukee-2767-m18-fuel-impact-wrench-issue-official-response/ |archive-date=20 Oct 2025}}</ref></blockquote>One hearsay is that first version of a product are the sturdiest and follow prudent design guidelines to minimise risks for need to expensive recall campaigns and unexpected increases in Costs Of Goods Sold<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-14 |title=Cost Of Goods Sold explained |url=https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cogs.asp |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-14 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251114131028/https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cogs.asp |archive-date=14 Nov 2025}}</ref>. When manufacturer has known good baseline that does not get too much warranty cases, they can start redesigning internal components while everything looks the same for consumers.

Tracking such internal revisions are practically impossible. See some reasons from the next chapter. From consumer's perspective these are either unknown unknowns or known unknowns when looking things through Rumsfeld Matrix<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-14 |title=Rumsfeld Matrix |url=https://www.theuncertaintyproject.org/tools/rumsfeld-matrix |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-15 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260130052928/https://www.theuncertaintyproject.org/tools/rumsfeld-matrix |archive-date=30 Jan 2026}}</ref>.

And the ultimate decision during useful life is the [[wikipedia:End-of-life_product|End Of Life (EOL) announcement]].

===External threats to device lifecycle enhancements===

In the UK, according to ITV (Independent Television), the Met Police (Metropolitan Police) have reportedly threatened the telecommunications industry and phone makers to make phones that are stolen into "unusable bricks", with measures ranging from multi-factor authentication to serializing components within a device to make it harder for them to be salvaged for parts.

Additionally, this news story reports that if efforts are not being made to reduce phone theft by June 1st, 2026, the Met Police will ask for these demands to be enforced at a governmental level, thus further compromising device lifecycle longevity, under the guise of phone theft

See here: https://www.itv.com/news/london/2026-03-11/met-tells-phone-companies-to-produce-unusable-bricks-in-bid-to-tackle-theft

==Why understanding the concept is important==

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Understanding different lifecycle phases and concepts might make it easier to identify different strategies and practices that manufacturers can use to control the lifecycle.

It might also help estimate [[wikipedia:Total_cost_of_ownership|Total Cost of Ownership]] (TCO) more accurately. Majority of manufacturer adjustments to it's products work in a specific way. People make purchase decisions based on past performance/track record and thus might assume too optimistic useful life duration. Manufacturers benefit significantly from the asymmetric information when consumers get the information only when it is already too late. This leads to ~~increased~~ TCO.

It might also help estimate [[wikipedia:Total_cost_of_ownership|Total Cost of Ownership]] (TCO) more accurately. Majority of manufacturer adjustments to it's products work in a specific way. People make purchase decisions based on past performance/track record and thus might assume too optimistic useful life duration. Manufacturers benefit significantly from the asymmetric information when consumers get the information only when it is already too late. This leads to higher than initially expected TCO.

It is paradoxical that the manufacturers or their contract manufacturers in general keep a keen eye for factory equipment useful life with other metrics and at the same time cannibalise the useful life of their end products.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Stub}}
-Lifecycle means series of stages which something (services, products, ..) passes during its lifetime. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-04 |title=Life cycle definition |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/life%20cycle |url-status=live}}</ref>
+Lifecycle means series of stages which something (services, products, ..) passes during its lifetime. <ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-04 |title=Life cycle definition |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/life%20cycle |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251219075944/https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/life%20cycle |archive-date=19 Dec 2025}}</ref>
+This article is aimed primarily for physical products at the moment.
 Standard product lifecycle consists of multiple phases from manufacturer's perspective:
@@ Line 10: / Line 12: @@
 ##Growth phase (sales increase)
 ##Maturity phase (sales flatten)
-##Decline phase (sales decline) <ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-08 |title=Product Lifecycle |url=https://www.scrum.org/resources/product-lifecycle |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-08}}</ref>
+##Decline phase (sales decline) <ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-08 |title=Product Lifecycle |url=https://www.scrum.org/resources/product-lifecycle |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-08 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251213074526/https://www.scrum.org/resources/product-lifecycle |archive-date=13 Dec 2025}}</ref>
-#End of life<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-08 |title=PLM: The Future of Product Development |url=https://www.sap.com/products/scm/plm-r-d-engineering/what-is-product-lifecycle-management.html |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-08}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-08 |title=Product Lifecycle - Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_lifecycle |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-08}}</ref>
+#End of life<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-08 |title=PLM: The Future of Product Development |url=https://www.sap.com/products/scm/plm-r-d-engineering/what-is-product-lifecycle-management.html |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-08 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251107195622/https://www.sap.com/products/scm/plm-r-d-engineering/what-is-product-lifecycle-management.html |archive-date=7 Nov 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-08 |title=Product Lifecycle - Wikipedia |url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_lifecycle |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-08 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260206034110/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_lifecycle |archive-date=6 Feb 2026}}</ref>
@@ Line 20: / Line 22: @@
 #End of life
 ##Repairs not possible/viable
+==How decisions in different phases affect the product==
+===Design===
+Lifecycle costs are defined primarily during design phase.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-14 |title=How product design decisions can make or break your cost model |url=https://www.manufacturinghub.io/product-design/how-product-design-decisions-can-make-or-break-your-cost-model/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-14 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251024111742/https://www.manufacturinghub.io/product-design/how-product-design-decisions-can-make-or-break-your-cost-model/ |archive-date=24 Oct 2025}}</ref> The impact estimates vary but are usually around 80% probably by reference to [[wikipedia:Pareto_principle|Pareto principle]].
+During design phase it is the easiest to affect end result by setting specific goals to end product. For example aiming for thin product instead of relatively thin and easily repairable. The actual differences are usually relatively insignificant.
+If you want to hear comments from person being involved in design processes, you should check out for example video by Design Theory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrv45bvP8qo
+Other thing playing significant role is spare part availability and general reliability. Are standardised easy to get components being prioritised in the design. Are the designs based on known good reference designs that might lack some performance for example.
+===Useful life===
+At least some products have repeating redesign rounds when they are being in active production. Some component availability might change and replacements are needed. Or management deems incoming warranty cases too infrequent and they see opportunity to cut BOM costs. As seen in official comment from Milwaukee Tools:<blockquote>Products can change several times within their lifetime for a variety of reasons, but the goal is always to exceed the users’ expectations. This time we clearly did not hit the mark.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-14 |title=Milwaukee 2767 M18 Fuel Impact Wrenc Issue: Official Response |url=https://www.protoolreviews.com/milwaukee-2767-m18-fuel-impact-wrench-issue-official-response/ |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-14 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251020070625/https://www.protoolreviews.com/milwaukee-2767-m18-fuel-impact-wrench-issue-official-response/ |archive-date=20 Oct 2025}}</ref></blockquote>One hearsay is that first version of a product are the sturdiest and follow prudent design guidelines to minimise risks for need to expensive recall campaigns and unexpected increases in Costs Of Goods Sold<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-14 |title=Cost Of Goods Sold explained |url=https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cogs.asp |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-14 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251114131028/https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/cogs.asp |archive-date=14 Nov 2025}}</ref>. When manufacturer has known good baseline that does not get too much warranty cases, they can start redesigning internal components while everything looks the same for consumers.
+Tracking such internal revisions are practically impossible. See some reasons from the next chapter. From consumer's perspective these are either unknown unknowns or known unknowns when looking things through Rumsfeld Matrix<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-14 |title=Rumsfeld Matrix |url=https://www.theuncertaintyproject.org/tools/rumsfeld-matrix |url-status=live |access-date=2025-09-15 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260130052928/https://www.theuncertaintyproject.org/tools/rumsfeld-matrix |archive-date=30 Jan 2026}}</ref>.
+And the ultimate decision during useful life is the [[wikipedia:End-of-life_product|End Of Life (EOL) announcement]].
+===External threats to device lifecycle enhancements===
+In the UK, according to ITV (Independent Television), the Met Police (Metropolitan Police) have reportedly threatened the telecommunications industry and phone makers to make phones that are stolen into "unusable bricks", with measures ranging from multi-factor authentication to serializing components within a device to make it harder for them to be salvaged for parts.
+Additionally, this news story reports that if efforts are not being made to reduce phone theft by June 1st, 2026, the Met Police will ask for these demands to be enforced at a governmental level, thus further compromising device lifecycle longevity, under the guise of phone theft
+See here: https://www.itv.com/news/london/2026-03-11/met-tells-phone-companies-to-produce-unusable-bricks-in-bid-to-tackle-theft
 ==Why understanding the concept is important==
@@ Line 26: / Line 53: @@
 Understanding different lifecycle phases and concepts might make it easier to identify different strategies and practices that manufacturers can use to control the lifecycle.
-It might also help estimate [[wikipedia:Total_cost_of_ownership|Total Cost of Ownership]] (TCO) more accurately. Majority of manufacturer adjustments to it's products work in a specific way. People make purchase decisions based on past performance/track record and thus might assume too optimistic useful life duration. Manufacturers benefit significantly from the asymmetric information when consumers get the information only when it is already too late. This leads to increased TCO.
+It might also help estimate [[wikipedia:Total_cost_of_ownership|Total Cost of Ownership]] (TCO) more accurately. Majority of manufacturer adjustments to it's products work in a specific way. People make purchase decisions based on past performance/track record and thus might assume too optimistic useful life duration. Manufacturers benefit significantly from the asymmetric information when consumers get the information only when it is already too late. This leads to higher than initially expected TCO.
 It is paradoxical that the manufacturers or their contract manufacturers in general keep a keen eye for factory equipment useful life with other metrics and at the same time cannibalise the useful life of their end products.