Which product to choose to avoid breakdowns? It is this thorny question that the Fnac-Darty after-sales service barometer attempts to answer each year. For 7 years now, the French household appliances and electronics giant has been publishing a relatively exhaustive inventory of the products that most often break down and, therefore, of those that are the most reliable over time.
For its seventh edition, this major ranking of the safest brands inaugurates a small revolution by finally presenting the evolution from one year to the next in the sustainability scores of different product categories. To put it another way, it becomes possible to quantify the efforts made by each manufacturer to make their products more durable and more reliable. The Stop Planned Obsolescence (HOP) association welcomes the birth of an indicator “who will be able to challenge the brands“to do better from one year to the next.
Large household appliances, a good student of sustainability
Thus, it is possible to see that the universe “large household appliances” which includes oven, fridge, washing machine and others increase its sustainability index by 2 points compared to last year. A score driven upwards by the efforts made by manufacturers of dryers and refrigerators among others (+4 and 5 points respectively). Note that this category was already the one with the highest sustainability index (with 126 points out of 200).urban mobility” et “hygiene care and beauty” are doing worse this year than last with -2 and -3 points respectively (to stand at 50/200 and 91/200).
In the electronic category, also called product “gris” et “bruns“we notice a surge in sound devices (headphones, speakers, etc.) which gain 5 points (82/200) while telephones and televisions progress by 3 and 4 points (109 and 110/200 respectively). On smartphones, “Apple remains the most durable smartphone brand, followed by Honor and Samsung“, indicates the Fnac-Darty group. All results sector by sector and brand by brand are visible on the dedicated site.
Apple remains the most durable smartphone brand, followed by Honor and Samsung
Overall, even if, as HOP notes, the study methodology “does not reflect the state of the market in general, but only the brand’s data“, we can see that, all categories of products combined”the age of repaired products increases by 2 months“. Good news since, remember, keeping a product as long as possible is the best way to reduce its environmental footprint.
Best, but big disparities
And if this indicator hides enormous disparities, the average age of repair of Oled TVs drops for example by 11 months compared to an increase of 10 months on gas hobs, it also hides a sad reality concerning the repair market In France. Because repaired devices actually represent only a small part of the electrical and electronic products in circulation.
It should first be noted that 54% of purchases are made to replace a device that still works. Of the 46% of people who purchased a device to replace a failing product, only 38% attempted to have their devices repaired first. A large majority of consumers do not yet even have the “reflex repair“, underlines Fnac-Darty.
Among those who did not even try to call a repairer at the time of the breakdown, 48% “instantly judge their product to be irreparable“, 18% do not consider this solution for fear of the price and 19% prefer the simplicity of renewal. In summary, it is the price, the complexity and the lack of knowledge of the environment which still and always play the role of brake on the repair industry. A conclusion already regretted many times, notably by a 2019 Ademe report.
Repair still too little known
The few who still try to repair their products are often put off by the unavailability of spare parts (21%), the uncertainty of the result (42%), and again and again, by the excessively high prices. high (31%). Here too, the complexity and cost and lack of education prevent repair from becoming democratized.
The repair bonus, expanded and improved at the start of 2024, has therefore not yet had the expected effects. This immediate discount on the price of repairs was intended to give rise to this “reflex repair” among the general public while allowing those who take the plunge to save a few dollars on the act itself. All to stay below the fateful threshold of 33% of the price of the new property above which we no longer even consider repairs.
This measure, ambitious in substance, was already limited by a “lack of political will“, underlined HOP at the beginning of 2024. And although the situation has improved somewhat since then, many of the structural measures proposed by the association have not been put in place. Among them, we can cite reduced VAT on repairs, the obligation to provide information on the existence of the bonus before purchasing or the ban on the circulation of products whose repairability index is below a certain rating.
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