I had lost all warranty papers, but my local photography shop insisted that I contacted Canon. Had to leave the camera on the official service office, and a month later I had to go and pick it up. The camera was good as new, they even cleaned it up and fixed a few mechanical issues in the lens. No papers needed, it was a Canon camera, the issue was a manufacturing defect, they were practically honor bound to fix it.
That day I decided I'd keep buying Canon for a while. Two cameras later, after buying a G12 and a G16 I decided to go for an Olympus OM-D EM-10. The camera is great and I love, but it sure stings to see them leave the market.
According to articles from that timeframe, issues were found in Sony CCDs manufactured between 2003 to 2005 surfaced from autumn 2005 to spring 2006, that moisture intrude through either surfaces of plastic packages or through a glue/cement used to fuse optical glass to ceramic packages, and thereon an iodine component in a glue used inside the package reacts to that moisture and corrode bonding wires connecting CCD die to IC pads.
Ultimately it lead to a free replacement program for 87 models total spanning across 9 brands until it ended in 2010/2011.
Not to downplay your experience but sounds like everyone was hit and responded in similar ways.
[0] https://www.fixya.com/support/t114938-canon_digital_camera_r...
A big ticket item like a camera is at extremely low risk of counterfeits, and every participant from the manufacturer to the place of sale will track the serial numbers of cameras shipped, so the "chain" can be reasonably reconstructed by only the camera itself.
For SD cards it's the other way around - no one tracks the serial numbers along the chain of purchase and there is a massive issue with counterfeit product. Requiring a proof of purchase at least helps to filter incoming claims...
Canon: https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2018/02/09/a-look-at-c...
Nikon: https://nikonrumors.com/2018/02/10/this-is-what-heaven-looks...
Canon also is known for top notch lenses, which is the real core component of a camera system. You may spend $2k-3k for a camera, but as a professional you'd spend much more money on multiple lenses you need that are all $2k+ each, and you'd be using the same lenses each time you replace the camera body.
Canon cornered the professional market this way.
Seriously.. their service is so fantastic & easy to work with it puts you at ease shooting with their expensive stuff.
I think this has more to do with it than anything to do with sensors or almost anything else when it comes to really serious photography and especially anyone who's running a business.
No one is happy to see another option disappear though. I agree with the sentiment that the biggest risk is too many cameras having Sony sensors inside though. Too much of that and at some point they're all Sony, even though the design of the exterior of the camera & the ergonomics can still be major differentiators.