>Planned obsolescence is when you artificially shorten the lifespan of something in order to increase the sales of the product or the next generation of the product in order to generate more revenue.

The strategy, as originally articulated, meant companies should use marketing to move customers to new models for status/styling reasons. It worked, too, in the car industry (which was the subject). For years the Mad Men types were able to convince people to buy a new car every two years, long before the old one was worn out.

Artificially shortening the lifespan of a product isn't profitable because of the hit the manufacturer takes to its reputation.