Wow… I thought a company designs their product so that it will only last for a certain amount of time, then set their warranty close to that exact amount of time.
I've heard of Sony and its warranties. I always thought they only make their stuff to last just long enough so that by the time it breaks they'll have introduced their next product in that line… such as when your PS3 finally breaks they'll have come out with the more expensive PS4… or something like that.
This reminds me of the myth(?) that the only time that shiny new item of yours breaks is when the warranty expires…It's not a myth. Companies do research into how long a thing can be expected to last, and/or how long it takes on average until things start getting returned for repairs. They set their warranties just under that level. Sony in particular is notorious.
There are often local (national?) laws that supersede those manufacturer warranties, something about 'reasonable product lifetime' or a phrase like that, which will make a manufacturer or outlet take something back or repair it as though it were under still under warranty. Often if your broken thing is an appliance or something expensive, it's worth looking those up.