quality fade

Coined by Paul Midler, author of Poorly Made in China (2009).

quality fade (uncountable)

1. (business) A gradual, deliberate reduction in the quality of manufactured goods in order to increase profit margins.

   Synonym: skimpflation

   • 2009, Paul Middler, Poorly Made in China: An Insider’s Account of the Tactics behind China’s Production Game, page 96:

     Chinese factories often engaged in this sort of quality fade—the incremental degradation of a product over time. They quietly reduced the amount of materials or else manipulated the quality of raw inputs.

   • 2010 August 16, Judith M. Whipple, Joseph Roh, “Agency theory and quality fade in buyer‐supplier relationships”, in The International Journal of Logistics Management, volume 21, number 3:

     In this paper, quality fade, an element of supply chain vulnerability, is defined as the unforeseen deterioration of agreed to or expected quality levels with respect to product and/or service requirements. The use of outcome‐based, behavior‐based, or mix contracts can be used to reduce the likelihood of quality fade and illustrate preferred scenarios for buyer and suppliers.

   • 2021 November 1, Rotem Naftalovich, Marko Oydanich, Tolga Berkman, Andrew John Iskander, “Quality Fade in Medical Device Manufacturing: Thinness of Airway Breathing Circuit Plastic”, in Biomedical Instrumentation & Technology, →DOI:

     The lack of a defined standard is concerning for quality fade—the phenomenon whereby manufacturers deliberately but surreptitiously reduce material quality to widen profit margins.