Xbox 360 Failures Actually On the Decline?

[Keane Ng]

Xbox 360 Failures Actually On the Decline?

Some may have scoffed when Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg declared that 360 hardware failures were in the past, but recent numbers are showing that rates of the Red Ring of Death are apparently on the decline.

The Red Ring of Death had the spotlight shined upon its glowy red self in recent weeks thanks to a Game Informer survey that revealed that a shockingly large number [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93943-Xbox-360s-Death-Rate-is-54-2] of 360 owners have experienced the hardware failure. Microsoft issued a counter of sorts to the data when Aaron Greenberg declared that the company's history of hardware problems was just that - history.

Now some might have been a bit skeptical of Greenberg's study [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94238-Microsoft-Hardware-Failures-Are-Well-Behind-Us] from SquareTrade, a company that is apparently the world's largest supplier of independent warranties, shows that the RROD might actually be on the decline. Has Microsoft finally slain the crimson beast?

The key, SquareTrade says, was the relase of the new Jasper models of 360s, which contained better chipsets than the previous models.

"In Q4 2008, Jasper units started arriving, although we believe units purchased during this period continued to be a mix of Falcon and Jasper models. Even with this mix, we projected the 1-year failure rate to drop below 4%," the study says. "Furthermore, when looking at over 500 units purchased in 2009, fewer than 1% of customers have reported a RROD error as of Aug 2009. It is still too early to definitively assert that Jasper has given RROD a knockout punch, but such an argument may be pronounceable in the coming months. "

The study admits that it might be missing a big part of the picture. Most reports of hardware failures are aimed directly at Microsoft, meaning that SquareTrade isn't seeing a good amount of data. I don't think the 360 will ever shake its image as the console that breaks, but this could be a good sign for Microsoft, even if in the end, the upshot of the study is that the 360 is still decidedly the winner when it comes to hardware failures: only 2.7% of Wii owners surveyed had hardware failures compared to 10% for the PS3 and 23.7% for the 360.

[Via IndustryGamers [http://www.industrygamers.com/news/xbox-360-red-ring-of-death-abating/]]

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[Sparrow]

That makes sense to me. I was probally one of the first to get the Jasper, as it can free with my first repair, and it's not broken. Ever. I leave it on by mistake all the time, and come back to it being as cold as ice in the morning.

 

[Megacherv]

Well, it's good to see that Microsoft are starting to tackle the problem. The Wii probably doesn't have many hardware failures since it's the same hardware as the Gamecube, which wroed perfectly as far as I know

 

[Pendragon9]

I still call BS on this. Microsoft has claimed all the time the RROD was fixed, and every time they just keep lying. So really, if some other company that doesn't even get all the RROD reports "claims" the rates are on the decline, I'm gonna be a bit skeptical.

 

[Pimppeter2]

Makes sense. The high rate was from the old systems. Assuming this chart is real.

 

[jboking]

I'm thinking the chart is bogus, but the logic behind it is correct. The failure rate is definitely going down. It's still a little high, but it's going down.

 

[SamuelT]

I think they'll solve it with other failures. There are always other problems.

Luckily I never had to struggle against the crimson threat.

Nor any other hardware or software problems. Perhaps it's just a console that has to be treated delicately.

 

[WhiteTiger225]

I still call BS on this. Microsoft has claimed all the time the RROD was fixed, and every time they just keep lying. So really, if some other company that doesn't even get all the RROD reports "claims" the rates are on the decline, I'm gonna be a bit skeptical.

Did you read the article? They pointed out that when they originally made the claim that the RRoD would be extinct, jasper models were mixed in with the older models still on store shelves, so they had fixed it, but stores had not removed the old stock and instead kept selling the first model.

 

[Jumplion]

Out of 500? Hell, GameInformer had 5000, at least 1/3rd of those had to be 360 owners.

While having less failure rates for the 360 is a good thing, I need to see an overall survey/study or whatever on this. There are too many "results" ranging from 10% to 30% to 50% with 10, 500, and 10,000 people to really make a whole result.

 

[Bigeyez]

While the failure rate is still high (20something percent is still crazy high) it's no surprise they are going down. Why would M$ be pumping out new models if they weren't trying to fix the problem.

And to those saying this is bogus why would Squaretrade, a company competing against M$ in the warrenty business lie about this? They wouldn't have a reason to.

 

[Cryo84R]

I still call BS on this.

Totally didn't see that response from you coming.

/sarcasm

 

[Pendragon9]

I still call BS on this. Microsoft has claimed all the time the RROD was fixed, and every time they just keep lying. So really, if some other company that doesn't even get all the RROD reports "claims" the rates are on the decline, I'm gonna be a bit skeptical.

Did you read the article? They pointed out that when they originally made the claim that the RRoD would be extinct, jasper models were mixed in with the older models still on store shelves, so they had fixed it, but stores had not removed the old stock and instead kept selling the first model.

They made that claim YEARS ago. If they didn't scrap all the models that could RROD in that amount of time, then it's just laziness to me.

 

[WhiteTiger225]

I still call BS on this. Microsoft has claimed all the time the RROD was fixed, and every time they just keep lying. So really, if some other company that doesn't even get all the RROD reports "claims" the rates are on the decline, I'm gonna be a bit skeptical.

Did you read the article? They pointed out that when they originally made the claim that the RRoD would be extinct, jasper models were mixed in with the older models still on store shelves, so they had fixed it, but stores had not removed the old stock and instead kept selling the first model.

They made that claim YEARS ago. If they didn't scrap all the models that could RROD in that amount of time, then it's just laziness to me.

It wasn't their job to scrap said models on store shelves, it was the retailers choice. Do you think that a store will really dump a tonne of expensive, high demand products just to pay up for a newer version of said product to market?

 

[mikecoulter]

That makes sense to me. I was probally one of the first to get the Jasper, as it can free with my first repair, and it's not broken. Ever. I leave it on by mistake all the time, and come back to it being as cold as ice in the morning.

Same. My first 360 E74'd so they handed over a brand new Jasper model over the counter the very same day. It's much quieter, runs far cooler and seems quicker too. I've left mine on for days after falling asleep watching a film.

An excellent upgrade.

 

[Cryo84R]

Out of 500? Hell, GameInformer had 5000, at least 1/3rd of those had to be 360 owners.

You didn't need a 360 to vote that your 360 had died in the GI survey.

 

[Pendragon9]

I still call BS on this. Microsoft has claimed all the time the RROD was fixed, and every time they just keep lying. So really, if some other company that doesn't even get all the RROD reports "claims" the rates are on the decline, I'm gonna be a bit skeptical.

Did you read the article? They pointed out that when they originally made the claim that the RRoD would be extinct, jasper models were mixed in with the older models still on store shelves, so they had fixed it, but stores had not removed the old stock and instead kept selling the first model.

They made that claim YEARS ago. If they didn't scrap all the models that could RROD in that amount of time, then it's just laziness to me.

It wasn't their job to scrap said models on store shelves, it was the retailers choice. Do you think that a store will really dump a tonne of expensive, high demand products just to pay up for a newer version of said product to market?

Regardless, I'm not believing any of this until I see a general consensus of all the 360's sold and their RROD rates. I've been lied to way too many times by this company and even if the poll comes from a separate source likely not connected to them, I'm still gonna be skeptic about it.

 

[Jumplion]

Out of 500? Hell, GameInformer had 5000, at least 1/3rd of those had to be 360 owners.

You didn't need a 360 to vote that your 360 had died in the GI survey.

And you don't need a PS3 or Wii to vote in that either, you point? However distorted the data was on that, 5000 people is still much bigger than a meager 500 probably cherry picked as well.

 

[annoyinglizardvoice]

Logically, it makes sense that the failure rate is going down as tech improves.
Personally, I've never known a 360 to red-ring.

 

[John Funk]

I still call BS on this. Microsoft has claimed all the time the RROD was fixed, and every time they just keep lying. So really, if some other company that doesn't even get all the RROD reports "claims" the rates are on the decline, I'm gonna be a bit skeptical.

Did you read the article? They pointed out that when they originally made the claim that the RRoD would be extinct, jasper models were mixed in with the older models still on store shelves, so they had fixed it, but stores had not removed the old stock and instead kept selling the first model.

They made that claim YEARS ago. If they didn't scrap all the models that could RROD in that amount of time, then it's just laziness to me.

To be fair, judging by this graph the problem only really started declining in Q3 of last year - it peaked in Q2 - with the key element being the new Jasper models, released at the end of last year. So claims made before... I'm not sure how much bearing they have on the current situation with the Jasper units.

I'm kind of dismayed/surprised at how the first revision seemed to increase hardware failures, though.

 

[AeroZeppelinSevenfold]

Mine just got it a while back. I'm supposed to have 3 year warranty for the 3 rings, but I guess not. I need to pay 100 bucks to fix it. I really don't know what to do. I have more important things to buy, but I have invested a lot of money in my 360.