Xbox 360 suffers 54% failure rate

Yes I have suffered! I had to send my XBOX 360 console in for repair, it came back still nor working. I sent it in again, they sent me a new one. Now it is still not working. I wish I had never bought the system!

Yes, the first generation 360's had major problems. While many customers had problems with the first generation system, Microsoft stepped up the warranty to an unheard of 3 years! No console manufacture has ever warrantied a product past 90 days. Sony didn't even honor an extended warranty with their massive Dvd-Rom failure rate on their PS2 console, they expected you to pay $100 + shipping to have it fixed if it was bought after 90 days, the PS2 proved to fail around the one year mark (almost guaranteed too).

I agree the first generation 360 had major failure rates. When people sent in their broken 360's to get repaired under the 3 year warranty, they either get their (high failure rate) system fixed or they got a different first generation remanufactured system as a replacement. This making the odds higher for another system failure, that is why some people say they had 2+ systems fail on them.

The thing that has me stumped the most, is with the failure rates of the first generation 360's, how can the Xbox 360 still be dominating sales against the PS3? Why do most game manufactures perfer making games for the 360? Why do most console gamers perfer gaming on the Xbox 360 (even though they probably had a first generation console failure at one time)?

Is the only thing preventing the 360 from being near perfect is because of their first generation failure rate? With Sony's high quality Blue-Ray Rom drive, and Sony's hyped up processor, and with their massive consumer backing of the past, how can Sony be losing so much market share year after year? Why is so many past Playstation fans moving to the Xbox?

I too had a first generation 360 fail on me, it was fixed for free under the 3 year warranty with no hassle. I bought a newer (arcade) version of the 360 while the broken one was being fixed, and gave the replacement to my nephew when I get it back from warranty (I got a newer version 360 as a replacement). Both systems are working flawlessly, knock on wood.

But at least you have "one of the best warranties in the industry” to keep you happy. The fact that you NEED that warranty seems lost on MS, but at least they do repair the thing, as many times as it takes and no matter how long you have to go without your paid for unit. I'd rather have a crappy warranty that I never need to use than have the 360 situation. What's really sad is that MS has money falling out it's ass and could have easily built a better system. But they did the old "save money up front with cheap parts" route so it makes the silly accounting look like the system doesn't lose as much money. I wonder how the accounting looks now. I'd bet the process to repair a single system twice, which if the poll is correct means they've done it for 41.2% of the systems, would be more than the cost of the system in the first place. Oh well, corporate America at it's best again.

There was a design flaw due to rushing the system, so they could beat Sony to the market. Most people who build computers for a living (like me) know that the cutting edge of technology is full of flaws, which in time gets fixed, either with new bios updates, new hardware revisions, or software. All electronics have a failure rate of 3-5% in the first year of use, expecially new products, just something people have to accept. Some products have a higher or a lower failure rate, even the best known products could have a major recall because of a new revision of a model. Even Toyota and apple suffers from RMA's or recalls from revisions of their product.

Sony needed a extended warranty for their PS2, and the customers got squat! That is the past, and so is the first revision of the 360.

Yes, Microsoft does have a lot of money. They have money because they can produce a product, market it, and let the customers decide if it is worth it to buy. And obviously due to the quarterly numbers, they do better than anyone else. Microsoft made a popular console, fixed their problems, and are making a nice profit from the console and games. Too bad Sony is tanking, there were the console leader at one point.

I agree with the above poster. I've had 2 consoles. One of the first ones (bought it about a year after the 360 came out), it got banned, now I used a falcon model. Neither one ever got RROD. The big problem is that MS repair jobs seem inadequate. They keep sending the same models back out. So people sent in their gimpy first gen, gen a repaired 1st gen, and it fails again. MS would of had a lot better luck if they'd start replacing them with falcons/jaspers. The failure rate on falcon's was way lower. The warantee system insured, once you've got a gimpy console, you'll keep getting one back. Only way to break the cycle is buy a newer one.

Just so people don't get confused the failure rate of the 360 has nothing to do with sony so why have they been brought up in the conversation? People need to relax and realize each system has its problems and one's problems have nothing to do with the other's. I like some people own both with no problems with either system but, know for a fact first generation has nothing to with it cause my nephew who has a elite has sent it back 4 times, Yeah that's right 4 times!

It is pretty well known that the only reason Microsoft can afford to keep the console division running is from the income from the rest of the company. In the last quarterly earnings report, the entertainment and devices division reported a loss.

Even if you look back at the previous quarters when the division posted 'profits', the only benefit is to boost their revenues. They are not making any money selling consoles.

Microsoft Quarterly Earnings

My Xbox 360 red ringed last week, after almost 3 years of ownership. Even if you've had the console for a while, I wouldn't assume that you're in the clear.

Oh, and save your receipt. I'm now trying to convince MS to waive the $100 repair fee, because they insist that I bought my console more than 3 years ago (nope, bought it 11/06). Without a receipt, I have to hunt down a banking statement, and then they will "investigate." God knows how long that'll take.

My son's 360 did the RRoD about seven or eight months ago. I turned it off, disconnected the cables, unplugged the power cord, and left it sit for about a few hours. When I hooked everything back up, plugged it back in, and turned it on, it was fine. It's been fine ever since.

@brokenbuga

I guess no one but Nintendo is raking in the bucks. Sony is the biggest loser here. Losing almost $350 million on the PS3 in just Q1 of this year.

http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/infamous/news.html?sid=6214443

They have lost $3 billion more in previous years.

http://kotaku.com/5018899/sony-lost-over-3-billion-to-ps3-cost-pricing-imbalance

Sony has lost mucho dinero on the PS3.

It has been the standard business model for 25 years, spend a ton of money to develop a hardware console and launch it with the hopes of recouping the losses over the consoles lifespan through software sales and licensing.

There is no margin on hardware, at launch it is almost always sold at a heavy loss. As production matures and the process is streamlined, the console may break even.

High priced consoles have never sold well, who knows why Sony thought the PS3 would have been any different?

Standard for 25 years? For whom Sony? As far as I know, they and maybe MS subsidize their consoles, Sony being the leader of the pack. Nintendo doesn't seem to have much of a problem in that department like the other ones. Nintendo makes a little on their Wii consoles but they don't subsidize the consoles like Sony did with the PS3 by selling it hundreds of dollars below cost just to run a competitor out of the market. Nintendo has the least powerful console out of the bunch yet is doing the best despite. I agree with you in that the money is made in software and hardware add-ons.

I had my XBOX RROD on me 3 times. Even though Microsoft fixed it all 3 times, it is still a pain. How could they create a product that fails 50% of the time? People still buy the console, because it has good games. This RROD is not going to effect Microsoft this generation, but it is going to have a huge impact on the next. I am going to wait at least 2 years before i buy the next generation Xbox. Look what bad word of mouth did to Windows Vista.