[H]omer <spam@xxxxxxx> espoused:
> Verily I say unto thee, that The Ghost In The Machine spake thusly:
>> In comp.os.linux.advocacy, Jim Richardson <warlock@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote
>> on Wed, 15 Aug 2007 23:28:40 -0700 <od7dp4-911.ln1@xxxxxxxxxxx>:
>>> On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:09:01 -0400, Capt Moron <rum@xxxxxxxxx>
>>> wrote:
>
>>>> Microsoft has made a profit on every XBox360 they've sold for
>>>> over a year now.
>
> Even if that were true, and I don't see any evidence of it, how exactly
> does that change the *fact* of their operating losses to date?
Personally, I find it most unlikely that it's true, as the box is
probably not old enough to have reached the production cycle point where
it could have repaid all the billions spent in development. Actual
per-machine costs are not the issue, you need to look at the whole
picture. Of course, Microsoft might choose to write-off the development
costs in order to pretend to the city that they're making a profit on
the boxes, so they take a hit in, say, 2007, but show profit (albeit
very small) in 2008.
I'm not convinced that this be true, though - it would've been shouted
from the rooftops if it were.
>
> Idiot.
>
> .----
>| Microsoft's game division suffers $1.89B shortfall
>| Entertainment and Devices Division sees a 47 percent increase in
>| its annual operating loss, thanks to $1.06 billion in
>| warranty-extension costs and slowing 360 sales.
>| By Tor Thorsen, GameSpot
>| Posted Jul 19, 2007 10:23 pm GMT
>| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>|
>| Last July, Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment and
>| Devices division, promised that his department would be profitable
>| during the company's 2008 fiscal year. However, he also warned
>| that, like the years before it, the EDD--as the department is
>| referred to in Microsoft's financial documentation--would suffer a
>| loss during the software giant's 2007 fiscal year, which ended June
>| 30.
>|
>| Given Bach's warning, today's announcement that the EDD is still in
>| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>| the red didn't surprise anyone. For the year, the division suffered
>| a $1.89 billion operating loss, a 47 percent increase from the
>| $1.28 billion hit the division took the prior year. The shortfall
>| came despite $6.08 billion in annual revenue, 28 percent above the
>| $4.76 billion it took in the year prior.
> `----
>
> http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6175367.html?action=convert&om_clk=latestnews
>
>>> An interesting claim, got any evidence that MS is making money on the
>>> Xbox360 hardware sales?
>>>
>>
>> http://www.techspot.com/news/23612-microsoft-makes-tiny-profit-on-xbox-360-hardware.html
>>
>> Through reduction in manufacturing costs, Microsoft
>> has managed to bring the cost of the Xbox 360 to a
>> zero loss, if not a slight profit.
>>
>> (One wonders if this is before or after the little problem relating
>> to the console overheating. The article is dated Nov 2006.)
>
> That article pre-dates the contradicting evidence given above.
>
> Microsoft needs to face reality ... they can't build a decent games
> console. Period. Their hardware is b0rked, they're operating at a
> massive loss, and the Wii is killing them. Their little lock-in ploy
> might have worked for operating systems on commodity hardware, but they
> just can't cut it in the console market - to everyone's great relief, no
> doubt ... with the notable exception of the bereaved parents of a
> certain dead baby.
>
>
> Related (thanks to Roy for the links):
>
> 30% failure rate haunts Xbox 360 image
>
> ,----[ Quote
>| A recent query put to an Australian game retailer puts the figure
>| at a 30% return rate.
> `----
>
> http://www.itwire.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13177&Itemid=1063
>
>
> Gamers Say Microsoft Understates Xbox Problems
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| An insider from Electronic Arts, Inc. is saying that the failure
>| rate of Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming console is actually ten times
>| higher than what Microsoft spokespeople have admitted.
>|
>| Game Daily BIZ, a gaming industry publication, reported that the
>| anonymous source tallied that of the 300 consoles EA has received,
>| 30-50 percent of them have failed.
> ` ^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/08/xbox_gamers02.html
>
>
> A Tale of 11 Broken Xbox 360s
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| "I can't comment on failure rates, because it's just not something
>| - it's a moving target. What this consumer should worry about is
>| the way that we've treated him. Y'know, things break, and if we've
>| treated him well and fixed his problem, that's something that
>| we're focused on right now."
>|
>| -- Peter Moore [of Microsoft] on Xbox 360 failure rates
> `----
>
> http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3160603
>
> This fan now has his 13th unit, according to one source.
>
>
> Microsoft deletes mass Xbox 360 crashing claims from Forza 2 forums
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| In what appears to be an effort to conceal the over 900 replies
>| gamers provided on the official Forzamotorsport.net forums about
>| Forza Motorsport 2 crashing on the Xbox 360, Microsoft has deleted
>| the long thread, now stating that it?s ?exclusive content for
>| registered forum users? only. However, the thread was removed
>| entirely, even to registered members.
> `----
>
> http://gamerush.zoomshare.com/files/my_images/GameRush_Entertainment_Microsoft_deletes_mass_Xbox_360_crashing_claims_from_Forza_2_forums_News.htm
>
>
> Repair company refuses to service Xbox 360s
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| A European company specializing in hardware repair and
>| troubleshooting has halted its Xbox 360 repair service due to the
>| difficulty in repairing what they label as a "fundamental
>| motherboard fault".
>|
>| [....]
>|
>| "We were getting a phenomenal amount of these things coming
>| through," a company representative stated in an interview with
>| Next-Gen.biz.
>|
>| "We were seeing about 30 a week coming in with the same problem
>| which we identified as a fundamental motherboard fault."
> `----
>
> http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=119128
>
>
> Microsoft Loses Money on Every Xbox 360
>
> ,----[ Quote
>| According to to market analysis firm iSuppli, factoring in costs
>| for the hard disk, the DVD drive, enclosures, the Radio Frequency
>| (RF) receiver board, power supply, wireless controller, cables,
>| literature, and packaging reaches $525, well above the retail
>| price of $399.
> `----
>
> http://liveskillz.com/blog/2007/07/01/microsoft-loses-money-on-every-xbox-360/
>
>
> Microsoft facing $1bn Xbox bill
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| Microsoft, has not revealed how many of its machines have suffered
>| the problem, but said the number was "bigger than we are
>| comfortable with."
> `----
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6275728.stm
>
>
><Quote>
> In what may be one of the costliest consumer warranty repairs in
> history, Microsoft announced on Thursday that it would spend up to
> $1.15 billion to repair failing Xbox 360 game machine consoles.
>
> While the company would not say how many units were failing, Robbie
> Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division,
> said that there have been an "unacceptable high number of repairs."
> The majority of Xbox 360 owners, he said, have not experienced
> hardware failure....
>
> The size of the anticipated repair bill suggests that a third to as
> many as half of the machines are flawed.
>
> Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., said it would take a charge of
> $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion against earnings in the quarter ended
> June 30. Consumers know they have a problem if three red flashing
> lights appear on the console. Gamers on online forums have been
> referring to the event as "the Red Ring of Death" because the machine
> then shuts down....
>
> Microsoft said its entertainment and devices division reported an
> operating loss of $315 million on $929 million in revenue for the
> three-month period that ended in March, and analysts have estimated
> that the company lost about $6 billion getting a foothold in the game
> machine industry.
></Quote>
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/06/business/06soft.html
>
>
> Lawsuit claims Xbox 360s scratch discs
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| Filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern
>| District of Florida, the suit claims that Xbox 360s scratch game
>| discs, making them unusable. Thousands of people have been
>| affected by and have complained to Microsoft about the problem,
>| the suit claims.
> `----
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070710/tc_infoworld/90093
>
>
> Microsoft Admits *ALL* Xbox360's Are Defective
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| Though Robbie Bach, head of Microsoft's Xbox360 Division refused to
>| elaborate on the issue, the general consensus is that it's one of
>| botched thermal design management and inadequate dissipation of
>| heat leading to component failure.
> `----
>
> http://www.fastsilicon.com/latest-news/microsoft-admits-all-xbox360s-are-defective.html?Itemid=60
>
>
> Australian Xbox 360?s mysterious illness
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| A major gaming retail chain in Australia (Electronics Boutique) has
>| issued a total recall of Premium Xbox 360?s
> `----
>
> http://www.itwire.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13518&Itemid=1063
>
>
> Xbox 360 is in the mire
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| FINALLY E3 HAS passed us by, but the news glut doesn't seem to have
>| stopped clogging the interwibble just yet.
> `----
>
> http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=41149
>
>
> Microsoft cancels X07 event
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| Microsoft's annual European event, called X07 this year, has been
>| cancelled according to Aaron Greenberg - group product manager for
>| Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.
> `----
>
> http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=26855
>
>
> Microsoft blames baby's parents for deadly Xbox fire
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
>| Specifically, Redmond claims that the suit, which also names
>| Wal-mart and and an anonymous power-supply maker, lacks merit
>| because the Klines "knowingly, willingly, intentionally, and
>| voluntarily exposed themselves to said danger and assumed the risk
>| of incident, injuries, losses, and damages"
> `----
>
> http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/01/microsoft-blames-babys-parents-for-deadly-xbox-fire/
>
--
| Mark Kent -- mark at ellandroad dot demon dot co dot uk |
| Cola faq: http://www.faqs.org/faqs/linux/advocacy/faq-and-primer/ |
| Cola trolls: http://colatrolls.blogspot.com/ |
| My (new) blog: http://www.thereisnomagic.org |
|
|
