Xbox 360's failure rate at 30%?

by Dustin Burg { Jun 22nd 2007 at 11:30AM }

The Xbox 360's biggest source of negative press revolves around one glaring issue ... its perceived failure rate. And the media keeps churning out the bitterness.

After writing an article on the Xbox 360's potential problems, tech site Smarthouse started receiving emails from customers who've had bricked 360 experiences. And after receiving more than 100 horror story emails and getting info from an Aussie EB Games manager, they're estimating that the Xbox 360's failure rate is somewhere around 30%. Though, this magical 30% failure rate number is coming from one EB Games manager, which Smarthouse feels can be justified since they've received numerous broken 360 emails. So, take such mathematical analysis for what it's worth.

We can't emphasize enough that the hardware failure issue is one of the only problems that has tainted the 360's image. Yet our friends over in Redmond refuse to address the problem specifically. Our experiences at X3F have been mixed as I'm on my third 360 and both David and Richard are still cooking along on their original consoles. What about you, how many 360s have you gone through?

Tags: failure rate, FailureRate, microsoft, xbox, xbox 360, Xbox360

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)

Boff @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:35AM

I don't want to jinx myself (probably just have!) but I haven't had to request a coffin yet.

Purchased May '06 in the UK.

If I get the RROD tonight then I'm holding X3F responsible mind.

wierddemon @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:38AM

I'm on my one and only launch console and have never had the joyous experience of seeing the red ring of death.

So... my 360 experience has been prety awesome.

ahsan @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:37AM

4 out of 9 of us at my office have had to send ours in. I was the latest a couple months ago, having the problem twice before getting a refurb replacement (got my original back the first time). We all love rocking some Gears but the failure rate seemed pretty high within our group even after the first 2 occurred when hearing all the horror stories out there.

Gdiddy056 @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:38AM

I'm on my 3rd 360, I think this 30% failure figure is probably right on the money. Most retailers that I have spoken to, said they get alot of returns

Most of my friends list has had to send their machines in at least once. I had one friend who had to replace his 6 times ! don't talk to him anymore though he had enough and bought PS3

thisguyrighthere @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:45AM

Myself and each of my friends have gone through one. I was the last and am still waiting to get mine back. Good thing this Summer doesnt have much for games.

Iced_Eagle @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:38AM

Purchased mine in December '05, and it's still going great!

ahsan @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:38AM

BTW most of us got ours in May 2006. I barely made the warranty.

Lucipher @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:39AM

My day one unit is still doing just fine, running smoothly with no problems.

ymmv @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:41AM

Got mine on launch day, still going strong.

Drimros @ Jun 22nd 2007 4:42PM

Just got mine at xmas, and between the wife and I playing GH2 for hours on end it seems to be churning along just fine.

I would say that it sees about 3-5 hours of use a day, and longer on weekends (both guitars come out and things get ugly :) )

DaStuph @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:43AM

Bought at launch and I'm on console number four. Whatever you do, buy the in-store warranty every single time you have to exchange it. Don't even bother with M$ support. I made that mistake and their "support" is the biggest cluster**** I've ever dealt with. Nothing but the runaround and nobody seems to have a clue what the hell is going on.

Arno @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:43AM

I'm on my 5th console. It's absolutely rediculous!

Midlife Crysis @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:43AM

I've had mine for eleven months with no RROD (knock on wood).

I wonder if the responses here will be misleadingly slanted towards those who have had few problems, on the theory that those who have had miserable trouble are more likely to renounce thier fanboy faith and stop reading X3F?

Eric @ Jun 23rd 2007 8:24AM

I just bought my 360 in April. Brand-new, out-of-the-box I got the red ring of death. So, I'm on my second 360.

chrisrackley @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:44AM

I'm on my 2nd and it's starting to act up. If it screws up, I hope it does so soon before the warranty expires in December. . .

CrazedCow @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:45AM

nobody i know personally has ever had a single problem with their 360s, and these are people that play almost constantly while they are awake. still though, all this news is a little disheartening.

Rob Stevens @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:46AM

Mine has overheated (left two quadrants go red) if I play an HD-DVD with the door of the cabinet it's in closed (damn, it's noisy!), but a reboot gets it up and running again. That's the only problem, but I'm still on my original (1 year, four months).

deerfaced @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:47AM

im on my 3rd. most people i know with 360's have been through at least one. Shame because it is a lovely console. My 3rd sounds like its on its way out already.

Aarron soans @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:10PM

brought mine in feb 2006 and its fine and the gaming experience has been awesome

however 2 out of the 4 people in my area that own one has had the ring of death but the customer service from microsoft you have to say is pretty awesome when dealing with these "deaths"

monkeycancer @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:50AM

Mine and my brother's were both from Feb 06 and they died a week apart Feb 07. Mine was repaired, and he recieved a refurb and we haven't had any more problems at least yet.

sean @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:50AM

2nd 260 but this one has a new bigggg heatsink stuck in it as im from uk so we will wait and see how many years(months) i get?

Q @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:53AM

See all that sony bashing is coming back to haunt you guys ! Oh and the PS3 is picking up some steam !

notpokey @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:51AM

Purchased day one. Graphical corruption (no RRoD) led to a replacement in January 2006.

No problems until a RRoD Sunday, June 10th (17 months later).

Waiting on next replacement.

sean @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:54AM

360 even

Velorium @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:53AM

i'm on my first, no problems at all with it, had it for just over a year, i've had it horizontal with my 19" widescreen monitor on it and my room is usually over 80 degrees, never even had lights for overheating. maybe i'm just lucky?

calvin @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:54AM

My home theater area has poor ventilation, because it's a tight spot. I've had problem with quite a few systems in the past. I have had to exchange one Xbox 360, but that's actually better than other situations. I'm like the one guy; I needed to exchange FIVE PS2 game systems!

Moosegolfr @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:55AM

I'm on magic number 6, and the damn thing still locks up on certain points in a game. Most of the games are great but I figure after almost two years I would have a system that works reliably.

toolvayne @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:55AM

I bought mine around april '06 and it has always crashed and I had some weird polygons on some games, then when the fall update came, it had no problems, now, 2 days ago i got the 3 red lights and had to take it to service, and the service guys told me they've had a lot of 360s taken in lately, kinda sucks because i love my 360 and i get dissapointed when it doesnt work like it should.

inferno3387 @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:56AM

I read this, and I have to tell you what happened to me. In 6 months, I went through over 8 xbox's. I bought all of them from Samsclub and Walmart. The manufacture date was from early 2006. I would not suggest getting any system from walmart or samsclub, since I went through 8 xbox's with them!

DJ Dunk @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:57AM

Waiting for replacement number 3 here.

I'd say 30% is a conservative estimate.

Brian Clarke @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:57AM

My launch day 360 died a few months ago. It was out of warranty and I had broken the MS seal. MS wouldn't touch it even if i paid them.

I got myself a core unit and slapped my premium gear on it.

360 hardware has now cost me about as much as a PS3... but with better games of course!

LiquidPlague @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:57AM

I'll be on my 2nd 360 when it finally gets here from the repair center.

Alex @ Jun 22nd 2007 11:58AM

Launch day console. No returns yet. And if it does break, I'll just return it to Costco. :)

Dusitn Everhart @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:00PM

Got mine at Launch and it's still kickin.

Chuck @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:25PM

One of the few positive aspects about the ROD problem is that I got a 360 for free when my friend didn't want to deal with returning it for service and just went out and bought another one. We had a great time opening up the RODed 360, corrected the problem using a guide on the internet (stupid x-clamp design), and I've been happily playing ever since.

MaGGoT TreeFrog @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:02PM

I am still on my First 360 - I noticed in PGR that the GPU was causing some artifacting (about 14 months after I bought it - so out of warranty). I opened up the xbox, cleaned it out, removed heatsinks, cleaned the contacts and used some Thermaltake heat paste. Then I took out those useless fans and replaced them with some meatier (albeit nosier) ones that really shift air nicely. Now its absolutely perfect. I used to find that it crashed alot but having read a tip that said not to plug it into multitaps, but instead into a 'clean' wall socket I have not had a single crash. As for my brick, it sits nicely atop a speaker and has caused no problems.

I am sure there are failures but I think that some of it is just general wear and tear and could be fixed with some DIY.

Jon @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:03PM

My launch console broke the other month, something to do with the motherboard. Was watching Family Guy and poof! Screen froze, rebooted, crashed and beeped after 30 or so seconds until the next day it just refused to turn on :(

Service for the replacement was excellent (sent it off the next day, got it back in 7 working days).

Dadidito @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:02PM

Interestingly my sister's boyfriend and I bought ours at the same time at the same place back on Christmas. Both have had HEAVY USE :). I never had a problem (knock on wood) his died about 1 month after purchase. Luck of the draw I guess, but I have to believe that the failure rate is higher than what Microsoft has stated.

R055 @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:03PM

My second just broke last week. Both were faulty disc drives (Open Tray Error). I have yet to see the 3 rings and hope I never do.

A side note for those that haven't had to get a replacement. If your's breaks and they wanna send you a refurb (which they will), get a new warranty! I'm having to shell out for repairs on my second console because I didn't ask enough questions the first time around and my refurb was under the old warranty which has now expired.

They're giving me discounted repairs ($104), a month of Gold, and a NEW 1-year warranty for my incoming box. We'll see if this one is a keeper.

...Caveat Emptor

Rich @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:03PM

I'm on my second. I bought my first in Jan '06 and it died last September. I had paid for the two year extended warranty, so I got a refurb replacement from MS. The replacement has given me the ring of death once or twice in the past, but worked fine after a restart each time.

Octantis @ Jun 25th 2007 1:11AM

Every 10 Minutes winner still on my first one. It is in an entertainment with 6" clearance on all sides (horizontal). Just moved to vertical with nothing nearby.

My brother's launch day just died in April. Got a replacement through MS in about 2 weeks.

Ed Gordon @ Jun 22nd 2007 1:34PM

I am awaiting my sixth in the mail. Forza 2 kept hanging on this one. I feel I am particularly unlucky.

Crashman06 @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:12PM

It's happened to me twice. First time, they sent me back the old one. This most recent time, they sent me a new one (or a refurbished one) along with a card good for a free month of Live, which I thought was pretty nice. Anyone else get that?

Someone complained earlier that customer support is bad, but honestly, in both my dealings, they've been absolutely awesome. No problems at all. Actually, probably the most painless customer support calls I've ever made. They even called me to let me know the box was on the way back to my apartment.

FR3SH JIV3 @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:13PM

My launch day system has been working fine for me. I was nervous at first because the box was smashed in on one corner. I refuse to stand the system up on its side so maybe that has something to do with it but the only problem I have ever had is my Forza 2 disc got a nice circular scratch on it from the drive. Forza still plays fine so no real complaints.

I want to get an elite one day but I am not looking forward to the problems I will have migrating my account. I have the 120GB drive on this console and I dont think you can transfer from one 120HD to another.

I have two close friends that have 360s and only one of us had to send in for repairs so I guess that is a 33% failure rate in my eyes.

Specter @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:13PM

I had a power supply fail on one, so they sent me a new one of those. Then a few months later I had a disk drive break, so I had to send in for that. I don't know if that means i'm on my 3rd? Does that count?

baby sea tuna @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:14PM

On my second one, but I'd gladly buy 5 more before I bought a PS3 or another Wii (what a waste of money that thing was.)

Oh, and to the dude who said that MS's service department was no help has no idea what he's talking about. They were unbelievably helpful (not to mention the fact that their English was quite good.) My coffin came quickly, and my box was returned to me in a reasonable amount of time.

Sure, I would have liked for it not to have broken in the first place, but the healing process was pretty painless. Of course, when I picked up an Elite, I made sure to get the extended BB warranty. Fool me once...

Roadzy @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:16PM

I'm on #3... (knocking on wood)

Scott Elkin @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:18PM

I just had to send in my 11/05 console, and my friend has had to send in two.

The second console my friend sent in, he was given a guys cell phone in Seattle he could call directly from Major Nelson.

That guy told him that the cause of these failures were heat. Apparently, the boards would flex when it would get hot, then cool and hot, and eventually, a solder point would snap.

This is why they are putting heatsinks in them. (He told us this a month before pictures of the heatsinks hit the press).