Rumor: Xbox 360's defect rate was as high as 68%

Posted Sep 8th 2008 11:45AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News, Rumors

According to VentureBeat's own Dean Takahashi and his numerous insider sources, 68% of all the early manufactured Xbox 360 consoles were defective and Microsoft knew it. Takahashi does mention that it's common industry knowledge that "early yields on electronic goods are almost always lousy", but in the case of the 360, the problem was never fixed and production of the defective consoles went as planned. Because, you know, Microsoft had launch plans to stick to.

Again, this is all rumor seeing that Microsoft would never admit to such knowledge or such high defective rate numbers, but let's say they knew that 68% of all their consoles had a potential for failure. If so, shame on them, but we think they learned their lesson.

[Via Eurogamer]

Tags: console-wars, microsoft, rrod, rumor, xbox-360

Related Headlines

Analyst: 360's Sept. NPD sales best of 2008 (6 days ago - 22 Comments)
MS's Ballmer claims 360 is an 'unqualified success' (7 days ago - 23 Comments)
August NPD: 360 regains sales lead over PS3 (31 days ago - 13 Comments)
Japanese 360 sales return to normalcy (52 days ago - 12 Comments)
MS reveals their Tokyo Game Show lineup (6 days ago - 24 Comments)

Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)

9-08-2008 @ 12:15PM

Edboy said...

the Freudian slips here never cease to amuse me.

9-08-2008 @ 1:06PM

Edog said...

Edboy. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And sometimes sucking balls just means terrible.

9-08-2008 @ 1:23PM

anthonyjh said...

You don't know what a Freudian slip is, do you? This was just shorthand and bad grammar.

9-08-2008 @ 2:43PM

RagingStormX said...

lmao.....just as Edboy pointed out....if you only know what you are completely saying there buddy. You might want to read your comment before you finally post it ;)

9-08-2008 @ 2:48PM

Viridium said...

Edog/anthonyjh - I think Edboy's comment was more referring to chojin having more than one guy on top of him - having to clarify by saying "the *other* guy ontop [sic] of me.".

Dunno about you guys, but ain't EVAR no dudes on top 'o ME! On the bottom neither. No way, no how, no dudes.

9-08-2008 @ 3:12PM

Edog said...

Viridium-good point. I totally missed that. My brain is so not there. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Live and let live! That's how we are going to avoid blowing each other up in the next 200 years.

9-08-2008 @ 12:17PM

Brian said...

I've had my 360 since April the 28th, Never had a RROD yet.

9-08-2008 @ 12:19PM

Brian said...

Well i do have a falcon which comes with a add-on heatsink, I've cutted out the metal mesh and bumped the fans up to 12v

9-08-2008 @ 12:28PM

sburko said...

Still have a launch box going strong nearly 3 years. I keep it in an entertainment center with hardly any air flow, so I feel like I'm on the razors edge.

9-08-2008 @ 12:30PM

Ghoti said...

Guess I'm lucky ... I have a launch pro system with the 20gb HD, pretty heavily used ... No RROD or other issues

9-08-2008 @ 12:35PM

Pete said...

I'm on my 4th console. I gave up and went to the PS3 but decided last month to pick up an Elite system. I love the 360 but if this one goes belly up I'm done with Microsoft. I really should not have given them a 4th chance I just love the system so much.

9-08-2008 @ 12:37PM

Devin said...

By "failed attempt" I mean "failed [to make a profit]"

According to Forbes Magazine, MS lost $4 Billion on the console.

9-08-2008 @ 12:40PM

Devin said...

I agree, the console is great, but it's hard to support MS when the box continues failing and at such large numbers....

9-08-2008 @ 12:51PM

Sean said...

Well what else are we meant to do? I've recently purchased a PS3 and beyond Uncharted there's really nothing to bother playing. I only bought it for Blu-Ray tbh! Great for watching media as it's much quieter, but the games library is woeful at present and most of my gaming is still carried out on Xbox Live.

9-08-2008 @ 12:42PM

Trunas said...

I hope they don't dissappoint consumers with the next console......I myself have had no problems. I just sold my launch system a few weeks ago to a friend and bought an elite (when on sale at dell). The 360 is a great system for online play and gives you the feeling of always being connected to the gaming community (even more so when the new dashboard comes out). Not a sony fan but you can never count sony out of the picture!

9-08-2008 @ 12:43PM

chubytuby said...

Are you guys really unlucky or do you treat your electronics like crap? The number of consoles you went through are ridiculous.

PS3 Fanboy: ''OMGAWDZ I went through liek 12 360 consoles. It sucks lulz.''

My first 360 feels like it can last years. It gets warm after 6 hours of playing but even my friend's PS3 feels like that.

9-08-2008 @ 12:57PM

Tony said...

Listen, I used to sit around and say the same thing. Every single person I know at this point has had the RROD at some point. I've had it twice now and I couldn't take better care of the thing.

Sometimes user fault is to blame. It's not the case here. And even if it was, wouldn't it still be odd that it's THIS common? Putting these numbers together simply invalidates the idea that people not taking care of these things is even near the top of the list of problems.

You're lucky. I thought I was too. It took me quite a while to get the RROD, but it happens to anyone.

9-08-2008 @ 12:53PM

Chester said...

I think this really says more about Sony then anything. With the 360's huge failure rate, it still seems to be the best console out. Or at least IMO! And I have all 3 systems.

9-08-2008 @ 1:05PM

Chester said...

and if thats confusing, i mean the 360 is still the best system on the market!

9-08-2008 @ 12:55PM

Tony said...

I like the little image for this post.

Previous 20 Comments | 1 | 2 | 3 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments

Add your comments

Your comments:

Remember me

E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

Name	Date
Baha: Edge of Control	Sep 22
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway	Sep 23
Cabela's Dangerous Hunts '09	Sep 23
Warriors Orochi 2	Sep 23
Shellshock 2	Sep 23
Lego Batman	Sep 23
Silent Hill: Homecoming	Sep 30
Guilty Gear 2: Overature	Oct 7
Fracture	Oct 7
NBA 2K9	Oct 7
NBA Live 09	Oct 7
Blitz: The Leage II	Oct 13
FIFA Soccer 09	Oct 14
New and Upcoming XBLA Releases

The Story	Find More
XBLA in Brief: Duke Nukem 3D	XBLA in Brief
Rock Band DLC: Rush has arrived!	Rock Band 2
Canceled Ensemble title was Halo MMO	Halo 3
Don't cry, Xbox Live is down on Monday, Sep 29	News
Molyneux: Next project is 'very different' and 'ridiculously ambitious'	Fable II

Blu-ray movie releases for the week of October 12th TGS 08 hands-on: Spelunker (PSN) The mystery of Sony's 'unannounced' TGS games	Mounts and Vanity Pets in Patch 3.0.2 Breakfast Topic: What confuses you about Patch 3.0.2? Planning for the Hallow's End title
Deals: Gift card with Dead Space, B2G1 at Toys R Us and more Soulja Boy calls out Xbox Live gamers Activision calls in the budget Secret Service	Wii Warm Up: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom vs. you Reminder: Wario Land is up for grabs Wii Warm Up: Worn around the edges
Reminder: Millionheir is up for grabs DS Daily: Camera games DS Daily: Saving up for a Flowery, Sunny, and Rainy day	PSP worldwide releases for the week of October 12 TGS 08: Full Square Enix Closed Theater impressions TGS 08: LocoRoco 2 and the curiously embargoed trailer
Another Brash Entertainment co-founder departs The Best of Big Download: October 6-12 Yep, more BlizzCon	Five Months Pregnant and Still Making Birdies, Hjorth Near the Lead in LPGA Boo Weekley on 'The Tonight Show'

Xbox 360 Fanboy