Microsoft insider admits 30% Xbox 360 failure rate

Zardon

Source: Seattle PI
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There has been much debate here on Gamingheaven about failed xbox 360's and many forum goers have already experienced the dreaded rings of death. Microsoft however while implementing a great return to base and repair ethic have been extremely vague in releasing information and details on just how many xbox 360's have failed. I read on Seattle PI today that an apparent reputable insider source has claimed the failure rate is 30% and that most if not all of the consoles will fail at one time or another and he also claims that Microsoft have already lost 6 billion dollars. He also recommends to "stand it up" (vertically) which certainly goes against the common thinking. Take it all with a pinch of salt? perhaps, but this is really a very interesting read.

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Q: So what do you think the real failure rate of the Xbox 360 is? Some have estimated it as high as 30%. I got my Xbox in early 2007 and so far so good but what do you think the chance is that it's going to die on me one day.

It's around 30%, and all will probably fail early. This quarter they are expecting 1 M failures, most of those Xenons. Some of those are repeat failures. Life expectancy is all over the map because the design has very little margin for most of the important parameters. That means it's not a fault tolerant design. So a good unit may last a couple of years, while a bad unit can fail in hours. I have a launch unit and have not had a single problem with it. And it's used a lot. But I don't know anyone else with a 360 that hasn't broken, except you now. There's no way to tell when yours might die. But the cooler you can keep it, the longer it will probably last. So stand it up, keep it in free air, etc. :Note : Xenon was the code name for the first Xbox 360 mother board.

Q: Of all five videogame systems on the market now (PS3, PSP, PS2, DS, Wii and 360)only the Xbox 360 has had such major hardware failure problems. Microsoft being the only company based in the US making a videogame system. What part of Microsoft's way of doing things do you think caused this situation to happen.

First, MS has under resourced that product unit in all engineering areas since the very beginning. Especially in engineering support functions like test, quality, manufacturing, and supplier management. There just weren't enough people to do the job that needed to be done. The leadership in many of those areas was also lopsided in essential skills and experience. But I hear they are really trying to staff up now based on what has happened, and how cheap staff is compared to a couple of billion in cost of quality.