Xbox 360 - 54% failure rate?

[TurnipHead]

I'm not very good at making threads but I just saw this and thought I'd just copy and paste some stuff and see what you all make of it.

San Francisco (CA) - A recent survey conducted by Game Informer indicates that Xbox 360 units suffer from a 54.2 percent failure rate. The publication also reported a 10.6 and 6.8 percent failure rate for the Playstation 3 and Wii consoles.

The survey - cited by The Consumerist - polled approximately 5,000 readers to obtain the above-mentioned data.

"While the 360's rate is alarmingly higher than the others, it's still bafflingly low because it blows the mind to imagine that 45.8 percent of the consoles have not broken. Also, Microsoft's numbers are inflated because 360s are used the most of the three consoles," wrote Phil Villarreal in The Consumerist. "Results said 40.3 percent of 360 owners use the console three to five hours a day, compared to 37 percent of PS3 owners. Meanwhile, the plurality of Wii owners (41.4 percent) play their consoles less than an hour a day."

According to Villarreal, Microsoft also "seized the gold medal" for unhelpful customer service, taking nearly a month to repair or replace a console, compared to a week for Nintendo and Sony.

"Only 37.7 percent of Microsoft customers found the company's customer service was 'very helpful,' compared to 51.1 percent for Sony and 56.1 percent for Nintendo," added Villarreal.

A number of industry publications have already weighed in on the latest statistics, including The Escapist.

"While the number is certainly high, when you think about it, it almost feels a bit low - 45.8 [percent] of Xbox 360s haven't ever broken once, which doesn't seem to fly with all the horror stories about everybody and their mother's 360s bricking," opined John Funk. "Still, despite the high failure rate, and despite Microsoft having the 'worst' customer service of the big three, the Xbox 360 somehow maintains strong brand loyalty - only 3.8 [percent] of 360 owners surveyed said they'd never buy an Xbox 360 again. I guess we gamers are a forgiving bunch."

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/43661/98/

Here are their findings:

Console failure rate

Xbox 360 – 54.2%
Playstation 3 – 10.6%
Wii – 6.8%

Percentage of console owners who suffered a second hardware failure after the original repair.

Xbox 360 – 41.2%
Playstation 3 – 14.7%
Wii – 11%

Percentage of people who rate their customer service experience "very helpful"

Nintendo – 56.1%
Sony – 51.1%
Microsoft – 37.7%

Percentage of respondents whose friends have had console hardware failures.

Xbox 360 – 69.9%
Playstation 3 – 12.4%
Wii – 6%

http://uk.xbox360.ign.com/articles/101/1014486p1.html


Elpresador from the Trey Brotherhood also made some comments on this if anyone is interested.

 

[Kreeeee]

Any need for the flame baiting video?

 

[Strife212]

While the 360's rate is alarmingly higher than the others, it's still bafflingly low because it blows the mind to imagine that 45.8 percent of the consoles have not broken

Sums it up pretty much.

Microsoft offers a decent repair service so it doesn't really matter. At least, untill the end of life of the system.

 

[Mahnsikir]

Microsoft offers a decent repair service so it doesn't really matter. At least, untill the end of life of the system.

While this is true, its shocking to think that any company would produce a product with a >50% fail rate within warranty, think of the money they could have saved, as well as hassel to the consumer, if the product was even just 10-20% more reliable.

EDIT: Also *grumble* they dont make them like they used to my 20-15year old gameboy and walkman are still going strong *grumble*

 

[boxman2000]

Interesting but MS havent hidden the fact they want Sonys share of the gaming market. You can see with the 360 they secured a lot of exclusive developers, titles and content compared to Sony and Nintendo. I read a report about a year after all 3 consoles were out and it showed similar results to the poll above. MS better sort it out before people realise PS3 is a far superior console!

 

[dalin80]

i would have guessed closer to 80%.

 

[Nismo]

MS better sort it out before people realise PS3 is a far superior console!

5 stars

 

[Tunney]

I've had two Xbox 360s die but the second one was repaired and hasn't had any problems in a long time, thankfully.

I've also had a Wii die though. DHL "lost" it on the way back to my house and getting Nintendo to replace it was a total nightmare. Nintendo outsource their UK repair service and their workers have no power to help people. Despite multiple calls and letters, I never got any compensation for all the virtual console games I lost.

 

[Streeteh]

Would be interesting to see what the failure rate was in comparison to how early users adopted the platform. By that i mean how many failures were from launch consoles and how many from newer models. I would put my money on launch consoles being nearer 100%, but in turn newer models being far less.

I assume MS still repair peoples units for free after the 3 year extended warranty? I mean they admitted the unit was inherently faulty so surely they should repair them as and when they fail of E74/RROD without question.

MS better sort it out before people realise PS3 is a far superior console!

They won't have anything to worry about on that front, because it isn't, they're both as good as each other; it all comes down to preference and opinion.

 

[Memphis]

MS better sort it out before people realise PS3 is a far superior console!

Ooooooo, you're going to be fun I can tell .

 

[Thesnipergecko]

I've had a total of 9 yes (Nine) 360's, 7 of them Red Ringed and I sold the other 2, I just can't be bothered with Microsoft's shoddy console.

I have had 1 PS3 for 19 months which has recently developed the Laser fault and that is being sent off for repair.

 

[biron_w]

I've had 3 360's.My first 2 had problems reading discs.
My brother is now on his 3rd PS3.
His wii has never had a single problem.

 

[Streeteh]

His wii has never had a single problem.

Has he checked it lately? Technically mine could have been dead for about 6 months now and i wouldn't have noticed . As the figures state in the op, the average usage figures of the Wii are far lower than both the 360 and PS3 so it's unsurprising that they break less overall, combine that with the older and therefore more reliable tech and you've got one reliable console.

 

[ConceptBoz]

Apart from the SNES and N64 every single games console i've owned dies at least once and i like to think im pretty carful with them.

I know console sales is never an exsact science - but all the "new" replacements sent out - do they count as consoles sold?

 

[Margaret]

How do people find that Elpresador guy funny? Such a ****.

I've had 5 or so 360's for various reasons, only one broke. It's a good console and even if it did break down on me more I'd still prefer it to my PS3.

I hate trophies.

 

[eyetrip]

My first 360, which I got about 18 months ago developed a fault with the drive inside of two weeks. The replacement has been going stong ever since. I also bought another just under a year ago which didn't have any problems with until I sold it last week.

I would not dispute the console has had many issues and a high failure rate, but I fail to see how certain people land up with loads of failed consoles, when others can hold on to them for a good length of time - just makes me think there is more at play with the faults than simply the console itself. Maybe poor wiring or something in house electrics?

My PS3 I have only had for a few weeks.... no "major" issues so far. But it's not a better console than the 360. Especially from a gaming/ease of use perspective. The 360 just feels more user-friendly. I really like both, but think the 360 offers the best experience.

Sorry, had to get off the fence and pick a side for once

 

[Streeteh]

I would not dispute the console has had many issues and a high failure rate, but I fail to see how certain people land up with loads of failed consoles, when others can hold on to them for a good length of time - just makes me think there is more at play with the faults than simply the console itself.

The typical difference is:

My first 360, which I got about 18 months ago

You will find nearly everyone with several replacement units will have had one from/near launch. The early 360s were far less reliable than the newer units which as you've seen first hand still aren't great. Once that launch unit inevitably broke, they would return it and recieve another old model that has been repaired, along with that comes the issues of the older units and that one is again likely to break. The result of this is a constant stream of failures. Look at the figures in the op for example, only 12% of the people that had failures didn't have one again, everyone else got given a repaired, faulty unit which then is far more likely to break. Also keep in mind you've not had the console anywhere near as long as those from launch, theoretically you could be on your 3rd console by now if you had a failure every 18 months.

 

[eyetrip]

snip

That all makes sense I guess

 

[dannyjo22]

I assume MS still repair peoples units for free after the 3 year extended warranty? I mean they admitted the unit was inherently faulty so surely they should repair them as and when they fail of E74/RROD without question.

No they won't, 3 years is the goodwill because they built the worst piece of electrical equipment in my lifetime. After that your on your own. Which is to be expected really they cannot guarantee it for life.

The most worrying thing is that they cannot even get the refurbs or rebuilds to stay reliable and the drives don't last long either. I wouldn't have much faith in them getting the next console right with the amount of tweaks this one has undergone without fixing much at all.

"While the 360's rate is alarmingly higher than the others, it's still bafflingly low because it blows the mind to imagine that 45.8 percent of the consoles have not broken. Also, Microsoft's numbers are inflated because 360s are used the most of the three consoles"

WTF inflated because there are more owners? It's still a percentage.

Never had an issue with returning a repair, only issues have ever been moving the drm to a new console and having endless numbers of phone operators not even understanding why i want to move it or what it is I want moving.

 

[vincent1989]

i think it's fair to say to microsoft that this problem obviously wasn't evident during testing, much like the PS3 which now seems to be suffering from a latent laser fault (back to the good old ps2 days anyone?) i doubt microsoft would have let something with such a high failure rate slip out intentionally, there has certainly been a black mark put on the MS console this generation. fortunately where the hardware is often a let down the software/interface/infrastructure of the console has lead to only 3.8% of people who suffered a hardware failure saying they'd never buy 360s/ms again, this in itself is a success, it suggests they are doing something right.

if only they'd sort out the red rings issue, it really shouldn't be that hard, even if the case is they have to slap the price up on new consoles by a tenner or so it would save them money in the long run and bring greater customer satisfaction. in addition to ensuring new consoles are shipped with more thought out internals they need to stop shipping zephers as replacements, this is probably the biggest issue they have right now in terms of hardware failure, as it's essentially the original unit (which has the massive failure rate in the first place -_-)

i must be one of the lucky ones though, i've owned 3 360 consoles for between 4 months to 1.5 years (launch and 2 falcons) and not suffered an issue with any of them, the first one (launch console and the one i owned longest) received some heavy play time as well as being transported back and forward to raikiris for 4 way halo 2 quite frequently.

"While the 360's rate is alarmingly higher than the others, it's still bafflingly low because it blows the mind to imagine that 45.8 percent of the consoles have not broken. Also, Microsoft's numbers are inflated because 360s are used the most of the three consoles"

WTF inflated because there are more owners? It's still a percentage.

they mean hours played i think.