EVGA set to slash warranty support by up to 80% ?

Different companies market on different things. The idea is to establish a USP or Unique Selling Point and push into the market with that USP. For a long time, nVidia partner EVGA has been pushing a global message that its 10 year warranty was a key reason to but its products. Is that all set to change?
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For more than 5 years, the main push from EVGA is that it supports all of its products for life – that its warranty is there for as long as you need it. The message has adapted over the years, but is it now really to change completely?

When originally announcing EVGA's Lifetime Warranty on its nVidia products, company President, Andrew Han, said “It is our way of telling our customers that when they purchase an EVGA product, they can depend on that product for quality, service and support. We say what we do and do what we say; this is our promise to the customer”.

That's what the President said and that's what he's been doing, but has he changed his mind about what EVGA stands for?

EVGA did set limits on the warranty at some point after 2005, by saying that it was now a limited 10 year warranty.

The rumour from CES is that EVGA will now bypass its loyal channel partners, by saying that only products bought directly from EVGA's own online store will now get Andrew Han's “Promise to the customer”.

Product bought in high street stores or online from the major resellers will get a fraction of that promise in the box.

We'll wait to see what EVGA's official response is to these rumours, but – for now – it seems that you will need to be careful where you buy EVGA product from in the future – as each channel could have a completely different warranty option.

KitGuru says: If it's true that you now only get Andrew Han's full promise of support when buying directly from EVGA, then that would represent a fundamental shift in marketing focus. It would mean that EVGA wants sales to come direct to themselves, bypassing the channel who have supported them over the years, with the side effect that EVGA's revenues and profit would increase. We're not sure of the exact reasons why any company would do that, but none of the options fills KitGuru with confidence.

Comments below, what is your feeling about (a) changing warranties and (b) companies selling products direct out of their own back door?

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