Archived Copies of Warranty Week

December 2002 to Today

Nine-Month New Home Warranty Report: Claims, accruals, and reserves continue to see a pattern of steady growth, despite many economists' predictions of an impending recession. Accruals per home sold continue to increase, though inflation and rising home prices mean that the accrual rate per dollar of revenue has decreased.
January 19, 2023
Polaris Warranty Program Faced Significant Challenges: How After, Inc. saved Polaris from a 34% annual premium rate increase (which would have had significant impacts on their warranty program) and ultimately helped them create their own warranty company.
May 13, 2021
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
U.S. Consumer Vehicle Makers: The nine-month financial reports suggest that the top U.S.-based passenger car, motorcycle and recreational vehicle makers have seen a slight increase in their warranty costs and a slight decrease in sales, resulting in an upturn in their claims rates. But it's nothing like what happened to them a decade ago, when sales plunged by unprecedented amounts and claims costs didn't.
December 5, 2019
Jet Engine Warranty Expense Report: On the one hand, the warranty expenses of the top engine makers are setting record highs. On the other hand, that increase could be caused by the non-aviation product lines of some of these conglomerates. But we might know the answer soon, as some of those product lines are spun off.
October 17, 2019
Solar Cell Quality Trends: Demand is rising and prices are falling, yet most manufacturers have managed to increase product quality in recent years. That is, except for the U.S.-based producers, who come in last in a testing lab's new white paper.
January 24, 2019
Building Materials Warranty Report: Warranty costs are generally rising in recent years among the suppliers of building materials, fixtures, and furniture. The latter group has seen the most noticeable cost increase, though expense rates across the industry are still generally on the low side (below one percent of revenue).
June 14, 2018
Extended Protection Plans:
Breaking Down Risk Management Options: Service contracts sold by dealers or manufacturers to buyers of commercial products such as construction equipment can increase resale value, raise customer loyalty, boost uptime, and lower operating costs. But before extended protection plan sales can begin, the advantages and disadvantages of various risk management options must be considered.
June 7, 2018
Extended Protection Plans: Service contracts sold by dealers to buyers of products such as construction equipment can increase resale value, raise customer loyalty, boost uptime, and lower operating costs. But before extended protection plan sales can begin, dealers have several risk management options to consider.
November 30, 2017
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
Telecom Equipment Warranty Report: Is most of the warranty cost reduction now behind them? Several parts of the industry, such as the Internet and data communications equipment makers, have seen their expense rates climb a bit in recent years. Others are letting their reserves run low, or cutting their accrual rates even as their claims payments increase.
May 5, 2016
Warranty Reserves & Foreign Exchange: The rising value of the U.S. dollar is impacting revenue, profits, and even warranty expenses. For U.S. companies, it's hurting exports. And for international companies in the U.S., it's helping to reduce the cost of imports and to increase the value of warranty reserves.
October 22, 2015
Electrical Power Equipment Warranty Report: While the warranty expenses of most of these manufacturers are generally low, there hasn't been much of an effort to drive them even lower. However, some companies that are seeing costs increase are still cutting the amount they set aside for the future.
June 25, 2015
m-ize Transforms the Warranty Experience: For years, cutting costs has been the main focus of warranty departments. As the economy turns around, companies are now changing the focus of their warranty spending onto improving the customer experience. Warranty can drive sales by providing a better service experience to increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and repeat purchases.
March 13, 2014
Aerospace Warranty Report: While a huge increase in Boeing's warranty costs is driving up the average for aerospace OEMs, the suppliers of avionics, jet engines, spare parts and other aircraft components are seeing their lowest warranty expense rates of the past decade.
May 9, 2013
Appliance & HVAC System Warranties: While they haven't made much progress with warranty cost-cutting, they also haven't seen much increase. And given all the financial problems reported by builders lately, merely staying the same looks good in comparison.
May 17, 2012
Making Holiday Shoppers Happy with Extended Service Contracts: How to increase retailer extended warranty attachment rates in the midst of a holiday price war? With the 2010 holiday gift-giving season well under way, here are eight strategies to help retailers increase extended warranty sales.
December 9, 2010
Telecom Equipment Warranties: Though industry sales are down in general, a handful of telecommunications, data networking and broadcast equipment manufacturers have managed to reduce their warranty costs and increase their sales at the same time. But as dramatic as some of the recent cost reductions are, the companies rarely mention either the cause of the initial problem or how they solved it.
October 15, 2009
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
The Chief Warranty Officer: Having detected something of a plateau in warranty activity, one speaker at the WCM Conference calls for the creation of a job position that cuts across the many departments with interests in warranty.

Yet some top executives still see warranty as nothing but a cost that needs to be reduced, and pay little attention to its potential to increase customer loyalty or build a brand's image of quality. Perhaps that's why a warranty champion is needed?
March 20, 2007
Warranty Webinar: Early warning systems allow manufacturers to detect emerging issues before they become major liabilities. In a roundtable discussion, experts suggest the best strategies for implementing these systems, and how to use them to reduce warranty cost, boost product quality, and increase customer satisfaction.
October 4, 2005
Seagate's 5-yr. Warranties: Is it a bold marketing move that will increase sales? Or is five years a bit too long for a product in such a fast-changing industry?
August 3, 2004
Warranty in the IT Industry: Spending on warranty claims for everything from handheld computers to television transmitters showed a very slight increase during the second quarter, while both claims rates and reserve fund balances were down. Collectively, some 259 IT equipment manufacturers spent almost $2 billion honoring warranty claims during the period.
September 22, 2003
Chrysler's Transferable Warranties: Do They Boost Resale Values? Increase New Car Sales? Or Are They Just Confidence Builders?
February 3, 2003