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Posted

Not sure if anyone has posted this, but... daaaaaaaaaaaaamn.

X-Box Repairs cost MS 1 BILLION?

Xbox 360 repairs will cost Microsoft $1B

By JESSICA MINTZ, AP Business Writer 13 minutes ago

SEATTLE - Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it expects to spend more than $1 billion to repair widespread hardware problems in its Xbox 360 video game console after a large number of them broke down.

Microsoft said it would extend the warranty on the Xbox 360 to three years after too many of the consoles succumbed to "general hardware failure," but the company provided few other details about the extent of the problems.

"We don't think we've been getting the job done," said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, which also makes the Zune digital music player. "In the past few months, we have been having to make Xbox 360 console repairs at a rate too high for our liking."

Bach said the company made some manufacturing and production changes that he expects will reduce Xbox 360 hardware lockups, but he declined to identify the problems or say which others might remain. Microsoft said it will record a charge of up to $1.15 billion for the fourth quarter to cover the additional costs associated with the warranty extension.

Matt Rosoff, an analyst at the independent research group Directions on Microsoft, estimates that Microsoft's entertainment and devices division has lost more than $6 billion since 2002.

Microsoft has written down larger amounts in the past — more than $10 billion in the late 1990s related to investments in telecommunications companies, and more than $5 billion related to antitrust issues — but a $1 billion write-down for one division in one quarter is significant.

"It suggests the problem is pretty widespread," Rosoff said.

Microsoft will pay for shipping and repairs for three years, worldwide, for consoles that experience hardware failure, which is usually indicated by three flashing red lights on the front of the console, something gamers sometimes refer to as "the red ring of death." Previously, the warranty expired after 1 year for U.S. customers and 2 years for Europeans.

Microsoft also will reimburse the "small number" of Xbox 360 owners who have paid for shipping and repairs on out-of-warranty consoles, Bach said.

In June, bloggers speculated that the Xbox 360 return problem was getting so severe that the company was running out of "coffins," or special return-shipping boxes Microsoft provides to gamers with dead consoles. "We'll make sure we have plenty of boxes to go back and forth," Bach said in an interview.

Microsoft's entertainment and devices division reported an operating loss of $315 million on $929 million in sales for the three-month period that ended in March.

Posted

I know I came here and posted that a few hours ago---where'd it go? :blink:

Anyways, good news. Now I know I'll have warranty coverage through at least 2 of the 3 Mass Effect games.

Posted

Pretty sure, I had to hunt down the thread as it was a few pages buried, and I can't find the post in any other threads I might have mistakenly posted.

Posted

my 360 finally broke on me.

not having it for a couple weeks sucked while it was being repaired for free.

but at the end of the day I wouldn't trade all the good times I had playing Gears of War online with my buddies for all the reliable (boring) PS3's in the world :)

Posted

dang, it takes a billion dollars before the guys up at MS decide they have a systemic failure? TAKE THAT YAMATO! haha.

Posted

My son has been getting some lockups, but no red ring of death yet. It's a Feb. 06 system. It's well ventilated. I am now going to ask Microsoft to refund me my $14 that I paid them to extend my warranty to two years. Or will I have a 5 year warranty on this thing now???

I want to get an Elite when it comes out again in the fall, but I will wait, hopefully with the 65nm processor, they can fix a few other things as well. Make it QUIETER!!! This thing is so loud.

Posted

I have to commend Microsoft for admitting that their systems are faulty and that they're not "getting the job done." I always expected them to extend the system warranty even further, but a public admission of guilt is not easy for any company to go through, no mattter how much evidence exists. Kudos to Microsoft B))

With the free shipping and 3 year warranty there's no reason to stop me from buying a 360. Halo 3, here I come!

Posted
dang, it takes a billion dollars before the guys up at MS decide they have a systemic failure? TAKE THAT YAMATO! haha.

A billion dollars and almost 2 years. Oh well, better late than never. And they're doing an excellent job of taking care of previous issues, as opposed to just starting from this day forward to make things easier and cheaper for them. As for Yamato, those pinheads will never learn so F 'em...

Posted
I have to commend Microsoft for admitting that their systems are faulty and that they're not "getting the job done." I always expected them to extend the system warranty even further, but a public admission of guilt is not easy for any company to go through, no mattter how much evidence exists. Kudos to Microsoft B))

With the free shipping and 3 year warranty there's no reason to stop me from buying a 360. Halo 3, here I come!

Yeah, I'm just waiting till halo 3 actually comes out before I get on board the 360 train. Hopefully by then, it won't sound like a train. Hard to believe how loud those things are.

Posted
Yeah, I'm just waiting till halo 3 actually comes out before I get on board the 360 train. Hopefully by then, it won't sound like a train. Hard to believe how loud those things are.

What? I Cant Hear You !

finally started playing online and I'm getting beat bad .... it'd hilarious if it wasn"t so sad :blink:

Posted

I see I lucked out.

I never did pay for an extended warranty. Which WAS stupid. But now it's just a gamble that paid off.

Posted
I want to get an Elite when it comes out again in the fall, but I will wait, hopefully with the 65nm processor, they can fix a few other things as well. Make it QUIETER!!! This thing is so loud.

Yes, that's what I want...quieter and cooler. Plus, maybe MS will drop the price after E3. Even though they don't really have to.

Posted
Yes, that's what I want...quieter and cooler. Plus, maybe MS will drop the price after E3. Even though they don't really have to.

E3? don't you mean E 4 everybody? I thought E3 is no more? :huh:

Posted

We now have both E3 and E4all. E3 is much toned down and truly more industry focused again; the new show is for the public.

Posted

looks like MS is following Sony's footsteps and lowering the price on the 360 as well. woohoo, begun, the price wars have!

Posted
Yes, that's what I want...quieter and cooler. Plus, maybe MS will drop the price after E3. Even though they don't really have to.

Yeah that's what I want. I will most likely stay with my current 360 pro until there's a 360 that can also do 8Ch of PCM as well. My Denon 4306 will accept no less over HDMI. :D

Posted

A 4th model 360??

In this picture that was taken from where Microsoft's keynote speach will be given in a few hours, four 360's were seen onstage. Two white one's with a hard drive, the black Elite with a hard drive, and what appears to be a 360 (again with a hard drive) colored in a shade of gray. Since the Elite with its black finish was suppose to be a limited time only, the gray 360 might be the long term version of the Elite, IMHO.

Posted
A 4th model 360??

In this picture that was taken from where Microsoft's keynote speach will be given in a few hours, four 360's were seen onstage. Two white one's with a hard drive, the black Elite with a hard drive, and what appears to be a 360 (again with a hard drive) colored in a shade of gray. Since the Elite with its black finish was suppose to be a limited time only, the gray 360 might be the long term version of the Elite, IMHO.

hmm.. is that why the black controller is half gray? :huh:

Posted

I just did the 360 D-pad mod/fix. Thumbs are sore from all the tight sanding, and I had to rinse out all the sanding dust, so it'll be a little while before I can report if it worked. But I do have a useful tip:

Even if you have the correct T8H bit for the screws, the bottom 2 screws are so recessed even that bit won't fit. But, I found that your standard basic 2.0mm slotted screwdriver, which is always one of the ones in that cheap "blue plastic with a clear cover" set of 6 "precision screwdrivers" fits PERFECTLY. Just put it in diagonally, and it'll just clear the center post. Worked wonderfully. It's the 2nd-smallest one if yours aren't labeled.

Posted

A few things from the E3:

More XBLA arcade games announced. Sonic and Golden Axe hit Live tonight (don't know if Golden Axe is the Genesis or arcade version)... sucks that I'm out of points right now. :p Bungie's cult shooter, Marathon: Durandel, is coming to XBLA.

The "gray" 360 people saw earlier today may have been the green Halo 3 edition Xbox 360. I assume it's a Pro system.

A live action trailer from the guy who I think was in line to direct the Halo movie and Weta is shown (nice!).

A new Halo 3 trailer is shown showing a lot more of the single player game and cut scenes in action.

Ace Combat 6 is an exclusive to the Xbox 360.

Resident Evil 5 trailer is shown. Looks like it will be set in Africa.

Call of Duty 4 looks awesome. Looks like they'll be doing a public beta.

Gears of War is heading to PC. Cliffy B does a demo showing a stage where you get to fight that one big Locust beast that had the big guns on its arms.

Lots of other stuff, too. :) I'd go to Joystiq or any of the other major game sites and blogs for info. Suprisingly, no mention of a price cut tonight.

Posted
looks like MS is following Sony's footsteps and lowering the price on the 360 as well. woohoo, begun, the price wars have!

Of course, Sony never REALLY lowered the price.

They discontinued the $500 model.

Then came back, lowered the $600 mdoel to 500, and introduced a new 600$ model.

Essentially, it's an upgrade to the line, not a real price cut.

Posted
Of course, Sony never REALLY lowered the price.

They discontinued the $500 model.

Then came back, lowered the $600 mdoel to 500, and introduced a new 600$ model.

Essentially, it's an upgrade to the line, not a real price cut.

That's one way to look at it. Time will tell whether consumers are interested in the 80 gig model.

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