54% failure rate is a terrible statistic for quality assurance. I don't know of any other product with defects anywhere in that level. Double digit rates shouldn't even happen. The fact that most consumers simply accept the potential of a defective unit indicates that either low quality is simply expected now or the Xbox 360 is a must buy product for consumers. The fact that the PS3 plays many of the same games, it would seem that the former is true.
@welshbloke, I've heard the failure rate may be as high as over 60%. I think a lot of people just find having to do with the failure rate a necessary evil if they want to keep playing the games they already bought, especially if friends are on the same console. I think any problems they have with 360 in terms of mindshare, will be more significant when the next generation consoles release.
I am suspicious of the 54% failure rate but suspect it is indicative of long term owners citing failure.
The 3.8% on the otherhand is testiment to how such failure can be managed and shows that so long as the consumer believes they are fully covered they will live with the inconvenience of potential failure. I do not manufacturers getting excited about this approach as it is serious money and it still makes more financial sense to get it right during pre production.
Game Informer found Xbox 360 has a 54.2% failure rate, compared to 10.6% for the PS3 and the Wii's 6.8% percent. The magazine surveyed nearly 5,000 readers to get the data. The most shocking number from the survey — and frightening from a consumer perspective — is only 3.8% of Xbox 360 owners said they'd never buy another Xbox because of hardware failure.
Retailers have told Eurogamer that Microsoft will increase the price of the Arcade Xbox 360 bundle to GBP 159.99 (from GBP 129.99) starting September 1. The five XBLA games will no longer be included in the bundle, either.
ShopTo boss Igor Cipolletta received confirmation from Microsoft this morning, as did a corroborating independent retail chain source.
Looks like we have an execution date for the Xbox 360 Pro model, with this shot from a Meijer catalogue due on August 30 indicating the 360 Elite is in line for a Pro-sized price cut.
The staple Xbox 360 - the Xbox 360 Pro - looks set to march straight off retail shelves and into the history books, if new console packaging is anything to go by. No conclusive proof but the evidence on the face of it looks compelling.
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