Re: Basic Economics
most sales become replacement sales for elderly, dieing kit
Generally yes, but car makers in particular have got the practice of early and irrational replacement down to a fine art. Few new buyers purchase for cash and run the car for its reliable and economic service life*, with most preferring to pay (exorbitant) lease plan fees, and have a new car every one to four years, even though the technical improvements over that time period will be paltry.
I suspect many people are running sim-free handsets on airtime only contracts, and whilst they congratulate themselves for their financial wisdom there, they are happily paying out many hundreds of pounds a month for a car they'll never own, perpetually paying the asset owner's depreciation and margin in return for always having a car that isn't embarrassingly old - like more than three or four years. And the curious thing, this applies to cheap as well as expensive motors, and for dull, non-aspirational brands as much as premium ones. I'm sure Apple would like some of that motor industry secret sauce.
* Tightwads like me excepted. Buy new - always through a car broker - sell when I conclude that there's a credible risk I'll need to spend several thousand quid on multiple major parts, perhaps at 175,000 miles, depending how the car is running.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
