1) Weak cost justification for repairs: It was becoming hard for consumers to justify the repairing of malfunctioning electronic items when the purchasing of newer models was so affordable, as a result of the advances in semiconductor and electronic materials technology. With the exception of display technologies, the newer television and radio receivers generally had internal components that were fewer in number and smaller in size and, thus, less costly to produce. Weak cost justification for repairs remains a factor today with most consumer electronics items.