Microsoft Reveals 360 Shortage Reason 81
Matt writes "In a recent interview Steve Ballmer has been quoted as saying that the shortages everyone is experiencing are simply down to lack of chips because of low yields - they even considered delaying the launch because of it. In the end they decided to push on and just try and get as many consoles out there as possible." From the article: "Repeating the company's official line on the shortage crisis, which is now threatening to entirely undo Microsoft's attempts to win the next generation war, Ballmer said, 'We are making more. All stores are getting new units each week. Can we make as many as people want? The answer is no, but not because we don't want to.'"
What about power supplies? (Score:3, Interesting)
Right..... (Score:4, Insightful)
It's not the open-source geek in me that says this, but as someone who has seen good and bad marketing: I can't buy that story. They want to keep the problems to a controlled population so they don't have to pull a massive recall across the nation. The thing that I can't quite get is why they did this for hype (which I'm still convinced of, until intelligently rebuked) when they could have waited a little longer to make everything go smoothly. They still would have been several months ahead of Sony.
This is why I never buy new systems until at least 6 months after release. I'll let everyone else go through the beta-testing machines and titles before I toss a few hundred dollars into something that could end up sucking for another few years. (and that goes equally for Sony and Nintendo)
Re:Right..... (Score:2)
Waah? They did release at Christmas-ish time. I'm confused.
The thing that I can't quite get is why they did this for hype (which I'm still convinced of, until intelligently rebuked) when they could have waited a little longer to make everything go smoothly.
So, do you believe every unsubstantiated rumor until it's proven to be u
Re:Right..... (Score:3, Interesting)
On the other hand, marketing tactics are almost always rumors even after the marketing drive is over. No company like to say why they did it because nobody wants to feel like the sucker for buying into someone else's ploy. From any reasonable business standpoint (note the word reasonable, I'm
Re:Right..... (Score:2)
I hear you on this, but have you tried Fahrenheit? I just started playing it on my Xbox the other day, and it's really the most intelligent and interesting current-gen console
Re:Right..... (Score:1)
Re:Right..... (Score:2)
I hadn't heard of Magna Carta, is this the one: http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/rpg/magnacarta/review . html [gamespot.com]
If so, it doesn't seem quite like my cup of tea, but thanks for the heads up anyway.
Re:Right..... (Score:1)
Re:Right..... (Score:2)
That said, I never finished either of them (nor Morrowind for that matter). I do have high hopes for Oblivion (I already have it on preorder...), but ther
Re:Right..... (Score:2)
Re:Right..... (Score:4, Informative)
Source?
Microsoft's official line is that they will use next-day shipping to exchange or repair any crashing Xbox 360s that were purchased. Do you have a source that says otherwise?
(I guess if you have a defective one, and didn't call Microsoft or return it to the store you bought it from, then yes some "still haven't been replaced.")
Re:Right..... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Right..... (Score:2)
Do you realise that if they'd released it say a couple of weeks before Christmas, then several times LESS people would have been able buy one for Christmas? That's what you want?
Picture (Score:4, Funny)
That and electricity arcing between his outstretched hands as he creepily intones "De. Velop. Ers."
Tin foil hat theory (Score:2, Interesting)
Who is making the chips???
IBM? Correct?
Think this is IBM's way of getting back at M$ for buying "licenses" from SCO?
Fun to think about....
Re:Tin foil hat theory (Score:5, Insightful)
Who is making the chips???
IBM? Correct?
Think this is IBM's way of getting back at M$ for buying "licenses" from SCO?
Actually, I was just thinking, "Microsoft is now seeing why Jobs decided to drop IBM for Intel. Looks like the X-Box changed platforms in the wrong direction."
Re:Tin foil hat theory (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Tin foil hat theory (Score:4, Funny)
Who stole my freakin' reality!?!?
Re:Tin foil hat theory (Score:2)
Major PS2 Similarity (Score:3, Insightful)
Ravenous demand is great if you can push your product out the door to feed the slobbering consumer zombies. How many parents are going to buy their kids $400-$600 giftcards so they can pick up the box later? I'll save myself by not wagering a guess, but my own experience is that kids want something to open and play with on Christmas, not the promise of getting something, and then maybe not even before they get back to school starting. This is not a debate on the merits of the system itself, but a revelation once again of how the marketing/finance departments simply don't communicate with the nuts and bolts guys. A bad situation just got worse.
Game ratings (Score:2, Insightful)
How many parents are going to buy their kids $400-$600 giftcards so they can pick up the box later?
Given the association of the Xbox platform with T and M ratings on original games, not as many as one would think.
Re:Major PS2 Similarity (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, and people thought that was bad. I waited in line for that launch, didn't get a unit and was really pissed off. But I had preordered online also and got a second shipment system - one week later.
I don't recall a time when a system launched and then was sold out completely for more than a week or so. I mean Ballmer's saying stores are getting weekly stock replenishments - what stores? Obviously not any of the big ones or we'd be hearing about it on all the tech blogs. My thinking is he's just pulling this out of his ass to make people feel better. I don't think they've shipped a single unit in the US since launch.
If we go a month between shipments (which seems pretty possible), then I don't even think you can call this a launch. This is more of a "test market". A launch is when you can actually put product in consumers' hands. A test market is when you test demand and also see how the system stands up to consumer use. That's what this feels like to me.
Game publishers can't be very happy about this either, especially as rushed as some of the launch titles obviously were. No doubt they'd have loved to have had another couple of months to finish up. And the stupid thing about it is, it's not like MS is getting any extra revenue because of Christmas out of the November "launch", because they don't have enough systems to satisfy demand in any case. They would have sold out regardless even if they launched in February or March.
It seems pretty freakin' clear at this point that this launch was rushed. I don't think there can be any argument about that anymore.
Re:Major PS2 Similarity (Score:1)
I have heard reports here in the UK that some shops have got new stock t
Re:Major PS2 Similarity (Score:1)
Comment removed (Score:3, Funny)
What's kludging up the yield? (Score:3)
Re:What's kludging up the yield? (Score:5, Interesting)
One issue may be that they can't bin the cores or GPUs.
(For those unfamiliar with binning: With your general-purpose parts, any chip that can't run at, say, 2.4GHz gets tested at 2.2GHz. If it passes at that speed, it gets labeled "2200" instead of "2400", and doesn't go to waste. The only chips that are completely rejected are the ones that can't pass at the minimum spec'd speed.)
In the case of a game console, there's no "range" of chip speeds. There is one fixed target clock speed, so the final test is a strict pass/fail.
The typical pattern for a new chip design is for the lower clock speed parts to arrive first. It takes a while for the fabs to work out the kinks that keep the top-speed yields low. Since the X360's core and GPU chips are custom designs, it's no surprise that it's taking a while to ramp up production.
It's easy to pick on Microsoft, especially in these here parts, but look at the evidence. Overheating power supplies, low chip yields, Perfect Dark Zero discs being pressed before the game was certified...
"Deadline or Bust" == Bust.
Re:What's kludging up the yield? (Score:3, Insightful)
That said, they don't have the option of selling lesser performing chips at lower speeds, and that'll kill your yields every time.
"Deadline = bust" is right (Score:1)
Re:"Deadline = bust" is right (Score:1)
i really don't think it would work like that, people want what they want "right now!!" and then when they get it, and it doesn't work, they bit** about it not working right, even they were the ones that caused the rush in the first place... we expect a perfect product at the deadline, and we need to learn that it's not going to happen, companys like microsoft can only test the console
Someone has been lying (Score:3, Interesting)
Since this is the official Microsoft version, I know which one I believe.
Re:Someone has been lying (Score:1)
Re:Someone has been lying (Score:1)
Re:Someone has been lying (Score:2)
Every week? (Score:3, Insightful)
This is an outright lie. I, and I'm sure others of you, have asked at stores such as Best Buy if they had yet received any more 360 units since the initial shipment. The answer was "No, but hopefully soon." This was last friday, a week and a half since the initial batch. Maybe there is a single Wal-Mart and a single Best Buy, etc. somewhere that got one or two more units after launch day, but that stretches Ballmer's assertion pretty tight. By no means was it "all stores".
Re:Every week? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Every week? (Score:2)
Why are they working at Best Buy if this is the case?
Re:Every week? (Score:1)
Re:Every week? (Score:2)
1: buy with credit card sell on ebay before card bill comes through.
2: sell on ebay before buying (requires you to know when the stock you plan to divert is coming so you don't hold up your buyers too much).
Re:Every week? (Score:2)
Because it's made up?
On launch day there were twenty of the Xbox 360 core systems and twenty of the Xbox 360 systems with hard drives.
Even if I didn't already know that some stores have gotten shipments and others will be getting more shipment before January, I'm calling bullshit, because I haven't heard of a single store which had anywhere near as many core systems as premium systems. It's usually about 1 core per 4 premiums. Next time you're trolling you shoul
Re:Every week? (Score:1)
I saw the same thing (Score:2)
Re:I saw the same thing (Score:1)
Not so sure about this... (Score:1)
Not one store I've talked to in my area has received a second shipment, let alone all stores, as we head into week 3 of release. I wonder if a definition of *all* is what we need?
Distribution Centers, not stores... (Score:2)
-everphilski-
Talk about missing the boat... (Score:4, Interesting)
Now the $500 purchases that would have gone to MS are now being spent on other gifts (not necessarily console related) and come January, people are going to be worrying about paying off holiday bills, not spending even more. How much in sales, and more importantly marketshare, have they thrown right out the window simply by not having an adequate supply?
Microsoft is all about ubiquity, not scarity. Having consumers not being able to buy however much MS product whenever they want is totally counter to thier MO. The admission by Ballmer about poor yields as quite telling. Publicly, they are disappointed. Behind the scenes, they are probably furious and ready to vomit with rage. The supply issues may not be thier fault, but that doesnt lessen the damage...
Apple's Switch- More Proof? (Score:4, Interesting)
Okay, so, Microsoft is having problems getting chips. Don't know exactly which chips, but I'm going to make an educated guess and say it's those spiffy new powerpc chips.
Sorta makes Steve Jobs look somewhat less irrational, doesn't it? If Microsoft can't get all the chips it needs for something they're spending billions on, how on earth is Apple expected to?
That being said, I wish somebody- Motorola, IBM, whomever- had gotten their act together and come out with PowerPC chips that could compete in the (irrational) battleground that Intel laid out.
Re:Apple's Switch- More Proof? (Score:2)
Re:Apple's Switch- More Proof? (Score:2)
As far as I'm aware the only chip that is particularly unusual is the 3-core PPC CPU from IBM, a company known for having performance problems with the PPC line.
The rest of the chips aren't all that different from their peers, so are unlikely to pose much of a manufacturing challenge.
Re:OUTRIGHT LIE. (Score:2)
It's hardly a surprise that IBM isn't getting solid yields on processors with 3.2-GHz cores (particularly with lower power consumption and lower heat output) considering PowerMacs still haven't made it to 3 GHz - instead having to double up on p
Re:OUTRIGHT LIE. (Score:1)
Re:OUTRIGHT LIE. (Score:2)
Re:OUTRIGHT LIE. (Score:1)
Ballmer could sink Microsoft (Score:3, Insightful)
Gates should replace him, and soon, before he does too much more damage. If there's one thing Microsoft can't afford these days, it's deer-in-the-headlights leadership.
Ah-hah-hah-heh... OK I'm good (Score:2)
Now where are all the MS fanboy's who tried to say I was wrong about the low yields now??? Hehhehe
Let's see, they already cut back one of the "cores" to increase yields, and they still can't even get a decent yield. Massive power draws, and PSU problems, random crashing, no killer app launch title... NADA.
Let's just call a spade a spade here: MS fucked up. They got greedy and fucked themselves over better than Sony or Nintendo could have ever hoped to do. I
Re:Ah-hah-hah-heh... OK I'm good (Score:1)
Re:Ah-hah-hah-heh... OK I'm good (Score:1)
Re:Ah-hah-hah-heh... OK I'm good (Score:1)
Xbox360 profits? That'd be a very small fire then.
Hey Ballmer, go back to stealing ideas from Apple. (Score:2)
Re:Hey Ballmer, go back to stealing ideas from App (Score:2)
Two words... (Score:1)
Not that I just hate microsoft, but I really think this is a clever ploy.
Oh, and I imagine that's what Ballmer looks like when he's constipated, great picture!
Re:Two words... (Score:1)
2. They can get all their units sold quick, not waste any sitting on shelves for a week. By sending out more of the higher end systems, you could convince someone who was waffling between the base and the high end to buy, just by being able to.
Actually, I think it's the reverse. Now that there is a real shortage, I bet the only systems you will see on the shelves is the "Core."
People will buy the "Core" system because it will be only thing they can get their hands on. It costs more to upgrade a "Core" s
Re:Two words... (Score:1)
Re:Two words... (Score:1)
Stack Overflow. Stick to the word limit next time.
Re:Two words... (Score:1)
[reference.com]
The 'and' signifies the joining of two other phrases, in this case one word phrases. It is not meant to be part of the two words. I guess I figured CS people might understand that using the '|' does not make the '|' part of the expression, just join's em.
I'll rephrase for you:
$supply = 0x01;
$demand = 0x10;
$result = $supply | $demand
This is a bad omen for PS3 and Revolution launches (Score:1)
Re:This is a bad omen for PS3 and Revolution launc (Score:2)
Fickle people... (Score:1)
What is the big deal, it sucks I have to wait til next year, but, i heard similar lamenting about the PS2. Why does one company get a free ride while the
399$ for poop.. that must be good poop! (Score:1)
Nice Foot Gun, BILL (Score:1)