Is Samsung phones created according to a planned obsolescence schedule?

Question

Recently the Samsung Galaxy M Series phones are breaking down once they have crossed a certain number of years (for the tested phones, it has been 4+ years) and after the latest software updates, the phone has stopped working. Authorized service center visits yields only one solution and that is change of the mother board or system board which costs close to 50% of the phone cost.It is just not me, but I have observed it across multiple close friends and have decided to stop using the Samsung phones for the worst practice. Also, almost all of the authorized service centers are on franchise model and one another reason why they don't want to fix the issue (whether it is hardware or software related, it really doesn't matter. For most part of it, it always a change of the system board or mother board which costs a bomb.I have been using mobiles since the late 1990s and have not faced this kind of issues (except that I have read about how Apple has deliberately slowed down the phones on every software update to force people to upgrade and got sued for that!).For unfortunately, whatever claim that I'm making here is without any proof or a probably root cause analysis.Taking a legal router in a country like India is totally useless because of the totalitarian and authoritative, corrupt governments and rampant corruption across all levels (that has been the case since centuries and one of the main reasons for a many movements. Well, that's another issue and I don't want to open-up a can of worms with it).My query here are the following: Has anyone experienced similar incidents? Is there anything that can be done to stop such things from happening? (Apart from not using their products) Collate all possible data to present a case against to see how this could be avoided in future and more people are educated about the brand and the possible long term consequences. Any other suggestions? Thank you so much.

aszantu · Accepted Answer

I experience this as well, that's why I don't update my phone. Runs longer with less problems that way. I'm sure, it's riddled with viruses and trojans, but as long as it runs, I'm fine with it. Also, I don't buy new phones, I get one on the flea-market and that's fine. And I decided, that the next work/life phone will be a dumb phone and the smartphone will stay home for stuff like online-banking, telegram, whatsapp, and whatever. All this stuff around is overwhelming, and the nano/microplastics debate isn't helping as well.

RetroTechie · Answer

I used to like Samsung for their display tech. Once owned a 20" monitor that lasted some 15y while seeing daily use. Which degraded gracefully at the end.
Everything Samsung I've owned since then, has been... mediocre. Just random hardware parts crapping out that should have lasted longer (and like you, not worth the cost of repair).
I think it's more a sign of the times, really. Build quality isn't what it used to be. As cheap & unsupported as manufacturers can get away with. Software is no exception.
In your case, I'd have a look at LineageOS & friends. Am using this myself. A good way to keep using older phones (if hw is still ok) long after vendor ships updates.