Next time when you are planning to buy a Smart TV, please be aware that most reputed manufactures withdraw security support after 12 to 16 months or at the most 18 months. Meaning, the Television gadget touted to be smart will be vulnerable to hackers launching sophistication driven cyber-attacks.
Which?, a Britain-based privacy rights company, was the firm that launched a study on this note and announced openly that TV brands withdraw support before the actual expected lifespan of a smart TV say 6-7 years.
There is a reason to indulge in such practice and that is: of a user gets lifetime support for a smart TV, then he/she will never opt for a new gadget even after a lifespan of 2-4 years and that will lead to a business loss of a different kind. If a purchase doesn’t take place, then how will the company manufacture future models with added tech and innovation?
The consumer brand not only limited its research to televisions but also came to the same conclusion after including a response from about 112 business brands that were into the manufacturing of home devices such as dishwashers, smart refrigerators, printers, smart phones and smart watches.
Among them, only 49 companies responded to the queries of Which? while others ignored the query as they viewed it as a blockage to their business existence.
When consumers are being forced to spend hundreds to thousands of pounds on gadgets that are termed to be ‘Smart’ than their traditional versions, they need to at least get a support time frame of, say, 4-5 years. But this wasn’t happening in real, as manufactures are rather playing smart on this note, rather than making their gadgets exhibit their smartness.
NOTE- LG offers a dedicated support of 24 months and HP offers support to its smart printers for 3 years, albeit only the premium models, although a printer works for over 10 years in real. Hisense guarantees a 10-year support.
