Why are some of today's consumer electronics becoming less durable?

There's a huge demand and pressure to make things cheaper, always cheaper. Cheaper construction means a shorter working life. It also usually means a product that is more difficult or impossible to repair. The chip you mentioned soldered directly to the board means a cheaper product. They save 3� or so on a socket for the IC. Yes, 3� does make a difference when you manufacture hundreds of thousands of a product. If you build 100,000 devices and save 3� on each device, that's $3,000 saved and most factories expect to sell 100,000 per month or even per day. I have found it about right to count on no more than a 3 year life on any electronic product.