"planned obsolescence" is an awfully bad term for what it's talking about.
it makes it seem like there is a shadow conspiration bent on making consumer goods worse and not last as long, but there isn't. consumer goods are worse and don't last as long, but it's not because of an evil plot by companies, it's a systemic problem where things have to be cheaper to produce both because the parts and the labor have gotten more expensive so you have to compensate for that somehow, and also because consumers want cheaper Things because salaries have not gone up at the same rate as prices, and so to make things cheaper you cut costs and quality. things are made faster by people who are less qualified and have less time to work on them, from worse materials, and thus breaks more quickly and gives you a worse experience. or it's much more expensive. or both!
anyway yeah. systemic obsolescence sounds like a better name
planned obsolescence does happen (people blocking right to repair under copyright and not "everyone wants waterproof phones which makes it very hard to repair them" as the most blatant) but it's usually only planned obsolescence in retrospect. sometimes it's not even intentional, and instead a case of marketing being completely ignorant to how the field is advancing, and that driving not just production, but what story you the buyer are sold to frame things ("hype")
there's a lot of interplay and grey area that's mostly companies doing what economists claim is impossible, and exploiting their favourable information imbalance compared to the customer. is it strictly planned obsolescence? usually just happy accidents.
your computer/phone needs to be replaced every n years because the internet and or your machine gets loaded with so much stuff that it bogs down. would replacing components be better? deleting the right things? probably, but most people don't know that's an option, or don't know where to look
medicaid-tier medical tech is often absolute garbage because insurance is paying for it and insurance doesn't use it. but insurance never logs complaints about quality from patients. so your pump breaks and insurance replaces it and the medtech company pockets the difference. they also mark it up by at least 2x. this is the most clearcut ones
your car center console, a proprietary design because they were the first to use tablets for it, stops getting software updates a year after buying it. a few thousand down the drain, especially in terms of resale value. the company was dumping stock, and marketing sold it as if it was still relevant. paying the extra 200$ for the new version would have given you five more years. you punch the horn in agonized grief, drowning out your sobs
