Are modern electronics rigged to break down after a while?

Well we could look at it simply by also looking at the automobile industry. There was a time when the workers took pride in their work and made sure that the products, electronics, autos, homes or any industry made them to last. Then when they realized that the products were lasting too long and people didn't need to keep buying new ones they had a surplus of unsold products. New thinking decided to shorten the warranty by a year or two and then design and manufacture the product to break down or become a drain on upkeep so that the consumer would have to or want to buy a new one. That is why the new "Limited Lifetime Warranty" was written, it is not saying that the product will last for your lifetime, it will last for the expected lifetime of the product which isn't very long. Most new homes only have a maximum 30 year warranty which typically is the length of the mortgage to buy it. Unfortunately there are many products out now that don't even last as long as the warranty but the manufacturer doesn't care because the number of people trying to make claims is so small that they can pay off the claims and still make a very hefty profit.

Nope I don't see that being the case. For example my iPod classic from 2009 is working just fine long after its warranty expired. Among other things.

no, the manufacturers depend on human nature to crave a new device every 2 to 3 years which means they don't need devices to break down before people will buy a new one. they make sure of this by upgrading software or operating systems to add "must have" features in the new models to make previous models obsolete.

No, most younger people just have no clue how to take care of their electronics.

Yes, it is very plausible this does exist. It most likely does. Obviously every product/company is different though, and I doubt they are all in some secret society to pledge this. But the thing is, is that most of the time there are higher quality and lower quality products. This does have evidence of playing roles into the expiration date of an item. Either way, just do your research before purchases and you should be fine.

Some are, others are not.

Some brands are just plain junk to begin with.

Coby ("Crap Owned By You") products,
for example, don't have to be 'rigged' to fail;
they are so poorly made that they do it all by themselves.

Hi yes to a degree they are modern solder used has no lead in it so after time the joints become dry joints this effectively disconnects many items the xbox has been one of these where a rework oven is used to try to restore the circuit.