Then some math and finally a warranty is yielded.
Warranty is often defined more economically. If you are an established company following correct accounting guidelines, a portion of the light price needs to be set aside for the term of the warranty. So for example, on a $900 fixture, say 1-5% might be set aside. That money does not count as revenue until the warranty is complete. The percentage is calculated based on actuarial statistics, similar to insurance. In simple terms.... I sell 10k units. of those, it is calculated that 1% may experience an issue within a given period. This is based on accelerated testing conditions, avg life of components, etc. The average cost of repair is then estimated. All of this goes into that % that is set aside.
Warranty costs also must account for the service group, stock (both components and full units) that must be held on to for the warranty duration. For example, Abyzz with a 10 yr warranty would need to ensure that they can provide parts for repair for the full 10 yrs after the last unit is sold. If they come out with a new pump (ex. A250 vs A200), the A200 needs to be supported. If not... well then they are going to pay big time when 9 years when they have to start replacing the old units with full new ones. So it is not as simple as ... "If the unit lasts 5 years a company incurs no additional costs for a 5 vs 1 year warranty".
Now if you are a smaller company... they may not care as much. LLC means they can just declare bankruptcy and be done with it.
On the other hand a big company may either have certain global conditions (ex EU requires a minimum 2 year warranty on all goods) or in the case of Philips... the CC is based on the Gentlespace Gen3 which actually has a 5 year standard warranty in its industrial lighting incarnation. I wouldn't be surprised if some large companies have an umbrella style insurance policy to cover excessive warranty costs.
The terms of a warranty are also very important. For example, Ecotech requires that the G5 is registered within 30 days of purchase or the warranty is void. For Kessil, you only get the longer warranty if you register. The registration is essentially locking that unit to the initial purchaser. This is an interesting caveat of the general Neptune warranty. They do not require registration. If you do not have proof of purchase, it will be 1 year from date of manufacture. In one of the other threads we uncovered that the GNC lights from Italy actually have warranty terms requiring the customer to cover shipping both ways to the factory... in Italy! Imagine if that Sicce 5 year pump warranty required shipping to Italy and back!
So lots of things go into the warranty. Not just "I feel like 3 years" or "The warranty represents how long the manufacturer expects the unit to last". In business terms "At the end of the day...." companies typically follow what the market has established as the standard warranty. They then adjust based on local economic or marketing conditions. For reef lighting (and most consumer electronics), 1 year is the standard.
