Off Topic: Microsoft denies "systematic issues" with defective consoles
Microsoft says it takes customer concerns about Xbox 360 hardware quality "very seriously" but denies there are any "systematic issues" and won't specifically address concerns relating to defect or return rates.
"We continue to look into these things very deeply," Todd Holmdahl, Microsoft's corporate vice president of Gaming and Xbox Products Group, told
Mercury News reporter Dean Takahashi.
Takahashi pressed Holmdahl on the return rate and what constitutes a normal return rate; how the figures on Xbox 360 compare to Xbox 1; how Microsoft would explain the anecdotal evidence of a high failure rate relative to PlayStation 3 and Wii; defect rates relating to yield; whether yields were good; how poor yields and high defect rates might affect the business model; whether a change of manufacturing partner (Wistron to Celestica) might have been related to product quality; whether a change to 65 nanometer chips will impact quality; whether changes to warranty policy were due to specific problems, like a problem with graphics memory; what the number one reason for a return is; whether, in fact, he could say anything about anything.
In response, Holmdahl stressed Microsoft's pride "in the box" and that people were buying lots of games, accessories and Xbox Live accounts.
Read the full article here...Tom Bramwell
June 18, 2007
Source:
GamesIndustry.biz