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Comment by rjuyal | Hacker News Reader

If that is the case, then your country Norway is good man.

Actually that's a shitty law, because it forces everyone to pay for an excessively long warranty whether they want it or not. It amounts to stealing money from people who would prefer a more reasonable warranty like 6 to 12 months.

Why is 6 months a more reasonable warranty? If my phone breaks down for any reason that is not my fault after 8 months, I'd expect to get a new one or it to be fixed for free.

Politically, Norway is very left/socialistic. So that this "forces everyone" to pay for it is generally looked upon as OK, because one is not punished for getting a randomly faulty device. And it's great as a consumer, I get what I pay for, a functioning device.

It's only reasonable to expect free repair or replacement if the reason your phone broke was a manufacturing defect. If something is going to break because of a manufacturing defect, it will usually do so within the first six months and almost always within the first twelve months. If it breaks after two years, that's not the manufacturer's fault. Now as a socialist, you could say who cares about right and wrong, isn't it great for you as a consumer that you can take money from the manufacturer? But the truth is that the money comes out of your pocket in the end, because the manufacturer has to charge a higher price to make it worthwhile to be in business in Norway. The forced excessive warranty just creates bad incentives and takes away choice.

Well, the Norwegian government has decided that a phone should be expected to last for three years, a sofa for five etc. So a phone breaking down after two years from normal usage and no faults by the user is per definition a faulty device. This actually creates incentives to make more sturdy products and not speculate in planned obsolescence.

> isn't it great for you as a consumer that you can take money from the manufacturer?

That's not my point, and a gross misrepresentation of socialism. I know that in the end the consumers pay for it. But everyone chips in for those less fortunate to get a proper functioning device.

And also probably the reason why the cheapest iPhone 5S costs 940$.

But compare it to the price level of everything else here, compared to what we get paid it's not that bad (at least not other brands).

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