Xbox 360 Failure Rate was as high as 68%

[Jack Torrance]

Report: Xbox 360 Failure Rate Was as High as 68%

Dean Takahashi has published an incredible report that finally goes into great detail on Microsoft's RROD hardware saga. You don't want to miss this...

by James Brightman on Friday, September 05, 2008
Report: Xbox 360 Failure Rate Was as High as 68%

It's one of the most talked about issues of this console generation; the so called "Red Ring of Death" has plagued Xbox 360 owners worldwide and it's not uncommon to hear stories of people replacing their consoles for the fourth, fifth or sixth time. Microsoft's eventual admission that there's a problem and its decision to extend the 360's warranty not only cost the corporation well over a billion dollars, but it undoubtedly had a large impact on the 360's current standing in the console wars. While some analysts believe the Xbox 360 will manage to retain a second place finish behind the Wii, Sony's been coming on strong this year. Microsoft had a year's head start and the company essentially shot itself in the foot.

Worse yet, however, according to a new in-depth report on VentureBeat.com from veteran journalist Dean Takahashi, author of Opening the Xbox and more recently The Xbox 360 Uncloaked, Microsoft deceived its customers. While Takahashi considers his latest report a "final chapter" to his Uncloaked book, Microsoft has said it's "attempting to create a new sensational angle, and is highly irresponsible."

According to a Microsoft engineer cited in the report, the question of hardware reliability was brought up back in August 2005, way before the 360's launch in November. Microsoft knew there was a major problem and the company marched right ahead anyway in order to get to market a year ahead of the competition. Incredibly, 68 out of every 100 Xbox 360s made by Microsoft's Chinese manufacturing partners were not working properly. Even more unbelievable is that when the first batch of the console's three-core CPUs was produced, a woeful 16 percent were functional.

"Microsoft knew it had flawed machines, but it did not delay its launch because it believed the quality problems would subside over time. With each new machine, the company figured it would ride the 'learning curve,' or continuously improve its production," said Takahashi. "Even though Microsoft's leaders knew their quality wasn't top notch, they did not ensure that resources were in place to handle returns and quickly debug bad consoles. There were plenty of warning signs, but the company chose to ignore them."

Apparently, part of the problem stemmed from Microsoft's ambitious plans for the machine. The company changed the design of the system repeatedly and added a hard drive and wireless controllers, which meant there were added components blocking needed airflow to keep the console operating at an acceptable temperature. "It turned out in the end that this was all going too far, too fast," said one anonymous source. "They were adding too many features after things were locked down. That incremental feature adding just made it fragile."

Complicating the problem was the ineffectiveness of the very QA machines that were supposed to detect which Xbox 360 units were functioning. The report notes that these QA machines ended up approving faulty units and were not properly debugged simply because Microsoft wanted to save $2 million on a $25 million contract with its third-party manufacturer.

Ultimately, it wasn't any one component that was the culprit. ATI's graphics chip was frequently cited for overheating, but the console also had problems with bad solder joints as well as other assembly and memory issues. It got to the point where by the spring of 2006, Microsoft had half a million returned or defective 360 consoles sitting in warehouses. Moreover, Microsoft apparently stopped producing the Xbox 360 in 2007 for a period between January and June in an effort to pin down the problem and fix it.

If you think about, Microsoft has been incredibly lucky – consumers have remained fairly loyal for the most part – but it certainly helps to be a multi-billion dollar corporation. This was one of the worst electronics manufacturing gaffes in history, and it clearly could have destroyed a lesser company's business.

We highly recommend that you read Takahashi's entire report for the complete story.

Thanks to GameSpot for the tip on this story.

http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/ne...h-as-68/?biz=1

[quexos]

Amazing, I can hardly believe it.
Indeed such issues would have killed a smaller company.
Anyways what is the "Red Ring of death" ?

Edit: It is not fun to wait longer for a console to come out like we had to wait for the PS3 to come a full year later but in light of these issues, one is certainly happy that a company makes sure the hardware is fine and well made rather than rush and release botched units.

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by quexos

Anyways what is the "Red Ring of death" ?

RRoD is the term used when an Xbox 360 unit fails. 3 quarters of a ring blink red around the power button to signal failure. at this point, your xbox is dead.

[DetroitSportsFan]

I had a 100% failure rate on the 3 consoles that died on me.

[Nerdkiller likes BD]

Thanks to GameSpot for the tip on this story.

Wait a minute, arn't they supposidly pro 360 or just anti Sony by having their games score's lowered?

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by Nerdkiller likes BD

Wait a minute, arn't they supposidly pro 360 or just anti Sony by having their games score's lowered?

saying RRoD is only at 68% is probably Pro-360, in all reality it was probably higher

[dialog_gvf]

I guess there is the article Wingman1977 challenged people to produce before.

Gary

[dereksworl]

< at entire thread

[Nerdkiller likes BD]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

saying RRoD is only at 68% is probably Pro-360, in all reality it was probably higher

Well I always thought that it was rather high (around 15-30%), but not that that high. I still don't really understand though why MS never delayed the console just to fix the problem. It would've resulted in a better console and games, but no, MS as usual just want to screw up on purpose just for money.

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by Nerdkiller likes BD

Well I always thought that it was rather high (around 15-30%), but not that that high. I still don't really understand though why MS never delayed the console just to fix the problem. It would've resulted in a better console and games, but no, MS as usual just want to screw up on purpose just for money.

ill tell you exactly why.

1. MS was the only 7th gen console availible at the xmas 05 shopping season. Delay it and you have competely missed out on the biggest quarter of the year for your console.

2. MSs plan was to gain a lead so large in Year 1, by having no competition in the 7th gen for a year, that devs would have a hard time making exclusives for other consoles for a long, long time, because of a large 360 install base. If everything that is on other systems is also on yours, no reason to buy those other consoles. Delay it and you've wrekced that plan.

3. They knew they didn't have the hardware to match PS3 or the innovation of the Wii, line up their launches closer together and the 360 looks by far the worse, no doubt and would probably sell the worst.

4. They thought they could get a way with it.

and this RROD thing has yet to finish biting MS in the butt. Don't be suprised if sales of the next Xbox aren't so hot at first, because of skeptical customers who got burned by the 360. We had a 360 in our house by Q2 06 and I know for a fact, I will most likely not be getting a next gen Xbox until at least a year into its next life cycle. Most likely not until at least one price drop or new SKU.

[blitz6speed]

Im on my 4th 360 (All previous 3 broke) and im trying to fix my buddys RROD console right now. These things are a nightmare.

[dereksworl]

Originally Posted by blitz6speed

Im on my 4th 360 (All previous 3 broke) and im trying to fix my buddys RROD console right now. These things are a nightmare.

d@mn!! i knew it was bad, but not that bad! welp, thats Microcost for ya

[Nerdkiller likes BD]

Originally Posted by stockstar1138

ill tell you exactly why.

1. MS was the only 7th gen console availible at the xmas 05 shopping season. Delay it and you have competely missed out on the biggest quarter of the year for your console.

2. MSs plan was to gain a lead so large in Year 1, by having no competition in the 7th gen for a year, that devs would have a hard time making exclusives for other consoles for a long, long time, because of a large 360 install base. If everything that is on other systems is also on yours, no reason to buy those other consoles. Delay it and you've wrekced that plan.

3. They knew they didn't have the hardware to match PS3 or the innovation of the Wii, line up their launches closer together and the 360 looks by far the worse, no doubt and would probably sell the worst.

4. They thought they could get a way with it.

and this RROD thing has yet to finish biting MS in the butt. Don't be suprised if sales of the next Xbox aren't so hot at first, because of skeptical customers who got burned by the 360. We had a 360 in our house by Q2 06 and I know for a fact, I will most likely not be getting a next gen Xbox until at least a year into its next life cycle. Most likely not until at least one price drop or new SKU.

I guess I didn't really see it that way, but then again, I'm more into true astethics than just having the whole thing being rushed. I guess the rush made some sence, but in the end, it just cost them hundreds of millions of dollars.

I've had some thoughts on buying a 360 in the past, but that RROD has just held me back a notch.

[quexos]

Originally Posted by blitz6speed

Im on my 4th 360 (All previous 3 broke) and im trying to fix my buddys RROD console right now. These things are a nightmare.

4th really. I hope for you it was covered by your guarantee. I couldn't afford buying 4 times the same machine

[dpomp]

i'm going to join this thread but i'm gonna wait for AliceT first.

[crxvtec]

My bro in law has had his 360 since may 07 and he must be one lucky SOB because he plays ALL the time and he has had no issues. He picked it over the PS3 cause all his friends had one. 2 of his friends have had RROD however.

My 60GB PS3 has been flawless since DEC. 06. Never had a firmware issue and blu's take no more than 20 seconds to load, even transformers. I am very thankful for this.

[dereksworl]

Originally Posted by dpompeo

i'm going to join this thread but i'm gonna wait for AliceT first.

you know what happens when you say her name 3 times

[Nerdkiller likes BD]

Originally Posted by dereksworl

you know what happens when you say her name 3 times

She will pop a cap in yo ass if you say it in a mirror 3 times, as is Biggie Smalls. I dare any of you to do it for Halloween.

[dpomp]

Originally Posted by Nerdkiller likes BD

She will pop a cap in yo ass if you say it in a mirror 3 times, as is Biggie Smalls. I dare any of you to do it for Halloween.

doesn't she wish

[stockstar1138]

Originally Posted by Nerdkiller likes BD

I guess I didn't really see it that way, but then again, I'm more into true astethics than just having the whole thing being rushed. I guess the rush made some sence, but in the end, it just cost them hundreds of millions of dollars.

I've had some thoughts on buying a 360 in the past, but that RROD has just held me back a notch.

it actually cost them over a billion dollars to fix this problem.