What is planned obsolescence?

Planned obsolescence is when a product is designed or managed to stop working, or to feel outdated, sooner than it needs to. The aim is to make the customer buy a replacement. It can be built into the hardware, delivered through software, or created by making repair impossible or too expensive.

Not every short-lived product is planned obsolescence. Cheaper materials or a design trade-off can shorten a product's life without anyone intending it. The EU describes the problem it targets as a commercial policy of deliberately planning or designing a product with a limited lifespan, so that it becomes obsolete or non-functional after a certain time or amount of use.

Types of planned obsolescence

• Technical obsolescence. Components designed to wear out early, or a product built so that one failing part ends its life.
• Software obsolescence. Updates stop, or an update slows down or disables features on older devices.
• Obsolescence by blocking repair. Glued-in batteries, missing spare parts, parts pairing that rejects third-party or second-hand parts, or no repair information.
• Consumables obsolescence. Printers or appliances that stop working, or claim to, before consumables such as ink or filters are actually used up, or that reject non-original consumables.
• Perceived obsolescence. Marketing and design changes that make a working product feel out of date.

What EU law bans from 27 September 2026

The Empowering Consumers Directive, Directive (EU) 2024/825, adds new items to the blacklist in Annex I of the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. Practices on this list are considered unfair in all circumstances. The early-obsolescence items are:

• 23d: withholding that a software update will negatively affect how goods with digital elements work.
• 23e: presenting a software update as necessary when it only enhances functionality.
• 23f: any commercial communication about goods with a feature introduced to limit durability, when the trader has information about that feature and its effects.
• 23g: falsely claiming a product has a certain durability, in usage time or intensity, under normal use.
• 23h: presenting goods as allowing repair when they do not.
• 23i: inducing consumers to replace or replenish consumables earlier than technically necessary.
• 23j: withholding that third-party consumables, spare parts or accessories will impair functionality, or falsely claiming that they will.

EU countries had to transpose the directive, and the rules apply from 27 September 2026. Because they apply to traders, both brands and retailers need to check what they say about durability, repair and updates.

France: a criminal offense since 2015

France was an early mover. Law No. 2015-992 of 17 August 2015 on the energy transition defined planned obsolescence as the techniques by which a company placing a product on the market deliberately aims to reduce its lifespan in order to increase its replacement rate, and made it an offense. Today, Article L441-2 of the Consumer Code prohibits techniques, including software, by which the person placing a product on the market deliberately aims to reduce its lifespan. Under Article L454-6, the penalty is up to two years in prison and a 300,000 euro fine, which can be raised to 5% of average annual turnover. France's AGEC law and repairability index build on the same goal.

Design and repair rules

Bans only stop the worst practices. The EU also sets positive requirements:

• ESPR. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation lets the Commission set requirements on durability, reliability, repairability and upgradability for each product group. Annex I lists durability parameters such as guaranteed lifetime, technical lifetime and mean time between failures.
• Smartphones and tablets. Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1670, applying since 20 June 2025, requires spare parts for at least 7 years and operating system updates for at least 5 years after a model's end of placement on the market, and smartphone batteries that keep 80% capacity after at least 800 cycles.
• Repair. The Right to Repair Directive, applied from 31 July 2026, makes manufacturers of listed products repair them after the guarantee and bans techniques that impede repair without a legitimate reason.

How to prepare

1. Audit your claims about lifetime, durability, repairability and software support. Remove anything you cannot back up.
2. Disclose update effects before a software update ships if it changes how older units perform.
3. Check parts pairing and consumables for anything that blocks third-party parts without a justified reason.
4. Publish repair information and spare parts where owners look for them, such as the product page behind the QR code.
5. Record durability data per product, such as expected and guaranteed lifetime, ready for ESPR information requirements.