Xbox 360 Failure Rate Is 54.2% - Is It Really That High?
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I know that the Xbox 360, which is made by Microsoft, had a high failure rate — but could it really be as high as 54.2%? This is what one gaming site states was the result in its survey of some 5,000 gamers. The Consumerist is quoting the survey as being fact, and adds the following information to the article:
The poorly manufactured, red ring of death-prone console has a 54.2 percent failure rate, compared to 10.6 percent for the PS3 and the Wii’s 6.8 percent.
The magazine surveyed nearly 5,000 readers to get the data. And 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. 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.
Microsoft also seized the gold medal for unhelpful customer service, taking nearly a month to repair or replace a console, while Nintendo and Sony stuck closer to a week. Only 37.7 percent of Microsoft customers found the company’s customer service was “very helpful,” compared to 51.1 percent fo Sony and 56.1 percent for Nintendo.
The most shocking number from the survey — and frightening from a consumer perspective — is only 3.8 percent of Xbox 360 owners said they’d never buy another Xbox because of hardware failure.
Now before I go on, let me say that I do not own an Xbox 360, but do own a Wii, which has been problem free. We also bought a Wii for two sets of grandkids without any issues. I don’t have a clue as to the validity of the story, but maybe some of you can share your experiences with us, whether good or bad.
Comments welcome.
10 Comments
Martyn McFarquhar
August 17th, 2009
at 6:08pm
I have an Xbox 360, and I love the platform, but I HATE the poor build-quality. Honestly, the device was obviously rushes to production before it was ready in aid of beating the PS3. No WiFi (a £50 extra Microsoft!), no slot-loading drive, and potentially one of the noisiest disc drives I’ve ever heard.
The console screams cheap, and that’s without the fabled red-ring scenario, which has happened to 3 (yes 3) Xbox’s my brother has owned, and the one owned by one of my old housemates. I owned a Wii for a short while, and that is beautifully built, sturdy and elegant, and the same goes for the PS3.
If the 360 wasn’t such a good platform for games, at a reasonable price-point, I never would have touched it. Microsoft need to take note, the next Xbox needs to be a quality device on both the software AND the hardware. Don’t rush this one other wise I may seriously re-consider buying it.
Elijah K
August 17th, 2009
at 6:16pm
Personally, I own both the Wii and the Xbox 360. The Wii, though being neglected for 160+ hours a week, is running flawlessly; while the 360, on the other hand, dishes out a painful 3-4 hours a day. I am on my 2nd 360 since its launch and am very happy with its performance. The only problems that I have heard of always have something to do with the power supply. I have since kept the 360 vertical, minimizing the surface area for trapped heat, and keep the power brick on its own shelf and free from dust.
Ron Schenone
August 17th, 2009
at 6:16pm
Thanks Martyn for the info.
Xbox is hiding the truth.
August 17th, 2009
at 6:39pm
Mine kept breaking ($M won’t even acknowledge the term “red ring of death”) until I gave that ish away. I also threw the insulting $10 Xbox Live Gold card (their apology) in the trash.
Mine died on me right before a house party and I had to lug it to work and take my lunchbreak to mail that sucker off (I live in Manhattan with no car). When I got it back “fixed” I lost all my Guitar Hero songs which I purchased ($40) and had to google for hours to find a way to get them back (which I never succeeded.) The device is a headache and I’m glad to be rid of it.
Additionally as a media center a hacked Xbox1 with XBMC has 5x the functionality of XBOX 360 and “just works”.
me
August 17th, 2009
at 6:41pm
My 360’s power button stopped working the day after I got it everything else is fine. My friends elite got the RROD 2 days after he got it but it was repaired quickly. His GPU then broke a few months later. I also have a PS3 that has had no problems.
Ruki
August 17th, 2009
at 7:51pm
These numbers, despite it being a sample and not really a representative number of Xbox 360 owners (taking as fact that more than 10 million people have Live accounts), are quite alarming from a business perspective. Especially that 4% percent of people that will never buy an Xbox again.
Hopefully, these numbers’ll teach Microsoft to not rush out products.
Marty
August 18th, 2009
at 5:00pm
I’ve had several friends who have an Xbox 360 and haven’t had any problems. In fact, on two occasions the “red ring of death” turned out to be an issue with the SD-HD switch on the back of the console (they usually had it hooked up to a high-def television and forgot to switch the display mode when changing to a standard-def TV). Both of these times they panicked for about 15 minutes until the called tech support and they told them about the switch. So I think the magazine probably picked-and-chose the field, since the numbers I’ve heard from other sources were more in the %20 percent or lower range.
Ryan Farmer
August 19th, 2009
at 12:11am
I’ve had multiple units overheat (5 of those) and one with a defective disc drive that was scratching discs which MS refused to replace, so I bought a new one and returned the disc scratcher in that box.
All and all, I don’t think I’ll be buying another MS console again.
I would tend to believe the XBOX 360 failure rate is 5-6 times higher than the industry average.
Andy
August 19th, 2009
at 10:46am
Geez, there is no “next gen” console I am willing to buy right now!
The 360’s failure rate is so high, they made a joke about it on 30 Rock. That’s a primetime network television show with tons of product placement, so it must be as bad as people say. Other than the high failure rate, it would be my first choice. Hey Microsoft, can I buy an ultra-durable Xbox 360 for more money?
The PS3 will not let you record video from it and I like posting my highlights on youtube. Plus, after owning a PS1 and PS2, I think the PS3 failure rate is probably higher than what is being reported.
I may end up buying a Wii, if Star Wars releases a motion-plus game with every jedi from the movies. But that won’t be for another year, at least. Argh!
Laurissa
August 29th, 2009
at 3:25pm
I have to say that i love the xbox 360 it is probably the best console i think.but hate it how it always crashes now ive had my xbox for a year and a half and i have already had two problems one is the ring of death and the other is some power thing when the xbox wont even turn out and my guitar hero is stuck in the dvd holder and yes it is true that xbox 360 does have 54.2 percent failage rate wich sucks now also they gfames i love really only come on a console for xbox so i keep getting my xbox fixed at least i have warranty microsoft gave xbox 360 a year for warranty but since the fail rate is so high they added two more years to the warranty .