At what age does Sharp stop supporting machines?

[mttech]

I'm looking for some information, possibly a white paper or something, that says at what age Sharp will discontinue support on a model. Driver updates, firmware, part and supply manufacturing, etc.

Thanks

[guitar9199]

Re: At what age does Sharp stop supporting machines?

I don't know specifically as far as Sharp goes, but I've seen most machines have a pretty standard 12-year "life cycle". A good rule of thumb to use is see if the most recent Mac OS has a driver after 90 days of its release. If they bother writing drivers for a new Mac OS you can bet it's still supported. If not, then you might want to get that customer upgraded soon.

I know Canon used to release a Tech Pub showing "End of Life" for parts and supplies. I imagine Sharp does too.

[Phil B.]

Re: At what age does Sharp stop supporting machines?

I'm looking for some information, possibly a white paper or something, that says at what age Sharp will discontinue support on a model. Driver updates, firmware, part and supply manufacturing, etc.

Thanks

have you search on Inet for that?

most manufacturers have around 7-10yrs to make it obsolete some may not support firmware after 5.

[bilyahn]

Re: At what age does Sharp stop supporting machines?

We are able to get parts for machines that are quite old, in the 15 year range in some cases, with out any problems. Every once in awhile Sharp will put out a bulletin that states that certain parts are being discontinued (normally supply stuff like toner and developer) but I don't remember seeing anything with a specific time frame for parts or supplies. When you start talking about firmware it is a totally different scenario. There is no tried and true method of when they will no longer provide firmware upgrades it seems kind of hit and miss to me. Firmware is still available for older units, it is just not updated after a certain number of years.

Good luck.

Bil

[travi]

Re: At what age does Sharp stop supporting machines?

I have been told by Sharp reps and in class that Sharp supports a machine 7 years after the date of last production. That was before the Foxconn take over. I have not seen anything published on their policy.