Microsoft Plans Deliberate Xbox 360 Shortage

An anonymous reader writes "To ensure an immediate "sellout" of the Xbox 360 on launch day (therefore getting lots of media buzz about their new console), Microsoft will simply restrict the supply down to a trickle. My favorite part of the article: "In addition to limiting the per-store stock of consoles and having the retailers prepare to prominently note the unit's "sold out" status, Microsoft has allegedly asked Norwegian retailers to sign an agreement that they'll sell out of the consoles on the launch date." Looks like it's not a rumour.

Comments

They're more environmentally friendly

[jkind]

Pretty cool interview with mechanical engineeer for the 360.. You can almost sense his disgust when talking about the environmental standards the new system has to live up to:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/xbox360/xbox360 theguts.htm

Re:They're more environmentally friendly

[Bert64]

I like the comment from the microsoft engineer:

> If you only have one supplier, you have less price negotiation leverage.
> Multiple suppliers keep the prices competitive. The other thing is that
> this time we own the IP on the chips. So we can make them at our own foundries.

So it`s good for microsoft to have multiple suppliers so it keeps the prices they pay competitive, but they build their own products to make it as difficult as possible for other suppliers.
They are openly benefitting from a competitive marketplace while trying their hardest to take these benefits away from their customers.