[FullRangeMan]

Thanks for inform Daneel.
I have read in the late Audio mag that at the beginning of the CD players era they made the Diodes very resistant because they didnt know how long they would last, after they saw how long the Diodes could last they decreased the quality to Diodes last only a few years.
Planed obsolescence.

[R. Daneel]

Unlikely. In the 'early days' they couldn't manufacture laser diodes that were small enough to be moved by a servo so they made the laser fixed and the lens that actually moved. As usual, semiconductor industry lagged behind but soon they managed to carch up with the demands of Sony and Philips and made lasers in 'dioce-form' which were small enough, consumed a lot less energey and made the production more efficient. If you buy a top-class Japanese-made machine today, chances are it will last for a long time.