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Microsoft Reveals 360 Shortage Reason
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.'"
They probably had to drop one vendor for power supplies, or at least kill a batch of bad supplies from their inventory. You'd think they might have delays while repacking some boxes still in warehouses.
So instead of waiting until the Christmas-ish time to make everyone's gaming season merry and bright, they decided to tease us with a mediocre launch of a paltry sum of systems? Some of which were even admittedly defective, and still haven't been replaced.
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)
Perfecting Discordia
www.stevenvansickle.com
The picture of Ballmer in that article is priceless: all he needs is a shiny helmet and a big picture of the Bill "Our Undying Leader" Gates projected on the screen behind him. :)
That and electricity arcing between his outstretched hands as he creepily intones "De. Velop. Ers."
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
Lets see here....
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....
As I remember, the PS2 had its lower release number due to the complete meltdown of a chip forging plant. Yet Sony, by producing its own hardware, had enough in backup store in order to at least satiate a heathly part of consumer demand.
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.
I am and always will be a stereotype, because who in their right mind prefers mono?
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Ok the yield of the chips is lower than expected. Which chips and why? Is the 360 finicky about the chips or are the chips just coming out bad? Are we talking about the main processors, the graphics processors or what? Just curious who really dropped the ball here (if anyone). Also wondering if this is just a load of bull (though don't immedeately see why it would be).
Since this is the official Microsoft version, I know which one I believe.
"All stores are getting new units each week."
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".
Dewey, you fool! Your decimal system has played right into my hands!
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.
MS wanted to release this season so they could capitalize on having the Xmas season all to themselves and jump on as much early marketshare as possible in the next-gen console wars. Next Xmas will be too late. All three consoles will be available and it will be a free-for-all at retail. Thier window of mega-opportunity is right now, and they are failing to maximize on it.
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...
Preface: I love the PowerPC.
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.
stored on computers from birth to the grave
The man is a complete incompetent, and his repeated tendency of making a fool of himself in public cannot be good for the company's business. On top of that, we've had the large amount of grumbling on MS staff blogs recently about his policies behind closed doors, as well.
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.
no wait... hah-hah-hah-heh-*snort*-hehhehehe... OK.
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'm glad too, because as a long time gamer I don;t want gaming going in this "Hollywood" direction nor do I want Microsoft to have any part in the business. They have been detrimental to it and Sony is close behind.
These guys got too big for their britches and had nothing but dollar signs in their eyes, now they begin to really see and feel their error. I hope it hurts, and bad... I hope Balmer gets canned and I hope MS stock takes a massive nose dive. I want to see Gates' fortunes crash down around him and all because they got greedy in a business they had no business being in.
So a big FUCK YOU to Microsoft and the Xbox 360. Burn in hell, along with your profits.
http://teasphere.wordpress.com - A little spot of tea