Microsoft Xbox 360 Sales Plunge 60% As Problems Mount
Gamers, Main, Microsoft July 22nd, 2007Microsoft said it shipped 700,000 Xbox 360 units in its latest fiscal quarter, compared to 1.8 million in the same quarter in 2006.
Microsoft’s growing troubles with the Xbox 360 video game console appear to be catching up to the company. Sales of the gaming machine plunged 60% in the fiscal fourth quarter, Microsoft disclosed Thursday. In its earnings statement for the quarter, Microsoft said it shipped 700,000 Xbox 360 units during the period, compared to 1.8 million in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2006 — a fall off of 61%.
Microsoft’s Xbox operations are housed within the company’s Entertainment and Devices Division. The group saw fourth quarter revenue drop 10% year-over-year to $1.16 billion on an operating loss of $1.20 billion. The group lost $423 million the previous year.
Microsoft blamed the 183% increase in the EDD operating loss on a $1.06 billion charge against earnings that the company incurred to cover the cost of extending the warranty period for the Xbox 360 to three years. The move came following Microsoft’s recent admission that the gaming system was suffering from an “unacceptable” number of general hardware failures. Microsoft has also been hit with two class action lawsuits in the past two weeks claiming that a design flaw in the Xbox 360 causes the system to irreparably scratch game discs. Microsoft has denied the claim.
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July 23rd, 2007 at 12:30 am
Quite interesting article.
July 23rd, 2007 at 4:57 am
So when will they pull the plug on a division that has lost the money every year that it’s been around?
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:17 am
heh looks like the latest Xbox’s lifespan has come “360″ die microsoft, die.
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:23 am
“die microsoft, die”. Oh dear, don’t waste your life on hatred.
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:24 am
Never. They want to take over your living room. I am glad that the XBox finally flopped. I wish that it was before the Playstation3 came out. Sony really deserves a boost. Even though PS3 is more expensive, the extra cost is justified by 1080, Blueray, and processing power. (PS. I only own Wii.)
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:25 am
I don’t see apples cherrypickin ass coming up with anything.
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:42 am
Wow, a consoles sales figures are laggin after over a year from launch!
I’m shocked.
Where’s the news here?
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:43 am
Who said anything about apple?
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:51 am
This is very slanted information. Last year the 360 launched and was the only nex-gen console on the market. The dept also created the Zune and other products so I don’t think the numbers have dropped that much due to failures with the 360. Seems like it was written by fanboys and not businesss people.
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:00 am
Xbox has always been behind the times…the come out with stuff too early before the tech is proven and then everyone else comes out with something better and more reliable. If a game system is supposed to have a consumer life of 10 years, why make something that is gonna be the worst for 9 of those 10 years. Once again, MS comes in 3rd in a 3 player competition….this is also known as coming in last, or LOSING!!!
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:03 am
Yeah, Halo was cool for all of a couple of months until the next first person shooter game out.
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:11 am
i heard that x360 gets overheat rather quick. is this the main failure in “an “unacceptable” number of general hardware failures.”
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:16 am
Rob, your statement is way off. In the last war Microsoft came in last with the most powerful hardware. It has nothing to do with how powerful the hardware is, it has everything to do with having a large variety of first party and third party games. Microsoft is definitely doing a better job as far as the game variety goes on the 360 then they did with the first Xbox.
Also they are not last place the last time I checked in the Americas they are still winning. The sales only have to do with Microsoft not dropping the price after all this time. It is unheard of for a console to be out this long after launch without a price drop. Sony already price dropped and Microsoft is not budging. What do you think will happen when Microsoft finally drops the price of the 360?
The 360 has the best game lineup, the best online service, offers 1080p gaming, and an excellent warranty of 3 years. All they need is a price drop that is in mass market range to win this one.
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:25 am
Uhhhhhh Greg, the 360 does NOT offer 1080p gaming. Only 720p there buddy. The HD drive add-on that you can purchase is not used for games. ;(
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:29 am
>Xbox has always been behind the times…the come out with stuff too early
How can it be behind the times AND come out too early?
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:38 am
>>Uhhhhhh Greg, the 360 does NOT offer 1080p gaming. Only 720p there buddy.
Xbox 360 can display 1080i (interlaced) but not 1080p (progressive).
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:39 am
Uhhhhhh LOL@Greg, the 360 DOES INDEED offer 1080p gaming… that’s right 1080p buddy… and it has NOTHING to do with the HD-DVD Drive. Reference the following: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=12680
“While Microsoft first announced support for native 1080p games and movies in its October 2006 Xbox Live update, it heralded a number of titles competing to be the first to offer the highest-end HD resolution, and it appears that EA’s title will indeed beat Sega’s to retail with the hitherto not well-publicized resolution included.”
Sucks to be a Sony Fanboi huh?
July 23rd, 2007 at 6:57 am
eh? the 360 does indeed offer 1080p gaming if your set supports it. don’t be a simple minded fanboy, own all new systems without hatred, i do.
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:00 am
T00 many LOLS lol
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:18 am
I’d like someone to really really notice the differences in 1080p and 720p, both look amazing. Plus a game can look awesome and still play like shit. I can afford all these systems, so it’s no matter to me who wins. LOL@youPoorFolks.
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:24 am
um, wouldn’t it make more sense to post last months and this months data rather then year to year?
this is usually the norm with consoles.
year to year growth is more indicative of a business’ growth overall.
and how about 360 vs. ps3 sales the passed month?
this article sucks.
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:27 am
Good God this is biased information.
Q4 of last fiscal year the 360 was supply constrained and had no competition.
Q4 of this year it doesn’t.
Doesn’t take a genius to see that you’re comparing apples to oranges here.
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:31 am
half of these comments are filled with fail. Microsoft doesn’t come out with unproven hardware. The PowerPC has been in use for YEARS, if you were to make that claim it would be with sony and their cell processor, which developers are STILL having trouble with the spu’s. Last gen, microsoft ended in 2nd place. Currently the 360 has the best software attach rate in history. I have a 360 and a wii, I have about 17 games for my 360 and two for my wii. What’s more important to microsoft and every company in general is the SOFTWARE sales. Microsoft isn’t going to be going anywhere soon with the 360 as long as software sales are excellent.
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:31 am
I swear, Sony has the dumbest fanboys.
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:49 am
I like the xbox 360. It had some good game for it. I mostly like it because it has the best online gaming, but it does have a cost for it. However, I think it is good to have a cost, cause otherwise you could create multiple accounts easily.
Microsoft just sucks at managing their products XD
The most amazing thing that could happen which would make me buy a 360 right now is if they only made you sign up with a credit card, but only had to pay for opening an account. That way it would be pretty much free, and efficient
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:54 am
MS BLOWS ASS CHUNKS!!!
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:14 am
That’s what happens when they don’t have any decent games for 7 months… Go take a look at Gamerankings where you can pull a list of 2007 titles. The #1 game is a port of a year old PS2 game and the #2 title is an ancient Castlevania port.
Things will pick up once the real games start coming out in September.
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:31 am
360 does support 1080p, even over component, despite the massive misbelief of techies across the industry that such a thing is impossible. I have a Samsung DLP at home that does 1080p over component, and I enjoy my first-gen 360’s glorious 1080p for the handful of games that support it.
PS: Not all games on PS3 or 360 do full 1080p, so as a selling point, it’s nearly worthless. As for PS3 fanboys, such as those who appear to be behind the article above (;P), call us 360 owners up after Sony figures out how to do anti-aliasing, and we can talk resolution at that point. Doesn’t matter how many lines you’re sending to your TV when they’re filled with pixelated “jaggies”.
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:47 am
[...] Microsoft Xbox 360 Sales Plunge 60% As Problems Mount Microsoft said it shipped 700,000 Xbox 360 units in its latest fiscal quarter, compared to 1.8 million in the same quarter in 2006. Microsoft’s growing troubles with the Xbox 360 video game console appear to be catching up to the company. Sales of the gaming machine plunged 60% in the fiscal fourth quarter, Microsoft disclosed Thursday. In its earnings statement for the quarter, Microsoft said it shipped 700,000 Xbox 360 units during the period, compared to 1.8 million in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2006 — a fall off of 61%. Microsoft’s Xbox operations are housed within the company’s Entertainment and Devices Division. The group saw fourth quarter revenue drop 10% year-over-year to $1.16 billion on an operating loss of $1.20 billion. The group lost $423 million the previous year. Microsoft blamed the 183% increase in the EDD operating loss on a $1.06 billion charge against earnings that the company incurred to cover the cost of extending the warranty period for the Xbox 360 to three years. The move came following Microsoft’s recent admission that the gaming system was suffering from an “unacceptable” number of general hardware failures. Microsoft has also been hit with two class action lawsuits in the past two weeks claiming that a design flaw in the Xbox 360 causes the system to irreparably scratch game discs. Microsoft has denied the claim. I think this partially explains Nintendo’s continued assault on marketshare. No one wants a defective system or a gameless system. [...]
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:59 am
Hmmmmm, so sales were good in the 4th quarter? You mean sales of products were awesome during christmas time, and have now since fallen off? THATS AMAZING….
July 23rd, 2007 at 9:07 am
Sony may have some stupid seeming fans, but you really have to admire their stubbornness and zeal. almost makes me want to buy the ps3…oh fuck what am I saying?
Anyway, what “Not A Genius” said is very true.
July 23rd, 2007 at 10:04 am
In the fall both the PS3’s and X360’s sales should go up. Also the Elite only has HDMI 1.2, the PS3 has HDMI 1.3.
July 23rd, 2007 at 10:50 am
Yes Microsoft… DIE. You shouldn’t be in the game industry. Your division has lost money every since the big black machine… DIE. Get a life and stick to computers. You know Sony is about to win!
July 23rd, 2007 at 10:52 am
i never bought one but 3 of my friends did. They have ALL had their 360s replaced atleast once. One of them was replaced 4 times. The console would overheat and shut down, scratch CDs, and simply “hang” in the middle of a game. The others guys had problems with the ROM. It wouldnt open sometimes. No idea why.
I have nothing against the 360 and no opinion on Microsoft, but I’ve seen their console breakdown too many times. It’s good they admit there’s a problem. Lets hope they do somethnig about it.
July 23rd, 2007 at 11:02 am
Too Bad HALO is the greatest FPS shooter ever. Xbox live is the best service. I have a Wii too but it is fun too a certain point. For graphics and real online game play 360 is the best BAR-NONE!!! 2 and half years no problems. Maybe if I had more I wouldn’t be as happy with Xbox, but I haven’t had any. And HALO is still the greatest franchise ever!!!
July 23rd, 2007 at 11:06 am
[...] Story found in: mtechxp [...]
July 23rd, 2007 at 11:06 am
Nima, would you know the difference without looking it up before replying to this?
July 23rd, 2007 at 11:16 am
the 360 sucks big one’s! i hope sony stomps a big mudhole in them!
July 23rd, 2007 at 11:28 am
Will, read this: http://www.littlewhitedog.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=5005
July 23rd, 2007 at 12:23 pm
[...] It’s definitely not a lack of games, seeing as the Xbox 360 has a much higher library of titles to choose from compared with both the PlayStation 3 and the Wii. The two factors we can point to are one, the faulty hardware that led to a three year warranty from Microsoft, and two, the fact that both the Wii and the PS3 weren’t on the market yet this time last year. Both combine together to push down sales of the 360 into six digits. We’ll see if Microsoft can pull itself out of this one when Halo 3 comes calling. [Information Week via MTechXP] [...]
July 23rd, 2007 at 12:47 pm
[...] It’s definitely not a lack of games, seeing as the Xbox 360 has a much higher library of titles to choose from compared with both the PlayStation 3 and the Wii. The two factors we can point to are one, the faulty hardware that led to a three year warranty from Microsoft, and two, the fact that both the Wii and the PS3 weren’t on the market yet this time last year. Both combine together to push down sales of the 360 into six digits. We’ll see if Microsoft can pull itself out of this one when Halo 3 comes calling. [Information Week via MTechXP] [...]
July 23rd, 2007 at 3:02 pm
This sums up MS’ problem …
http://2aday.wordpress.com/2007/07/20/nintendo-sony-ms-where-they-stand-now-whats-next/
July 23rd, 2007 at 7:07 pm
NO, the XBOX 360 DOES NOT render in 1080p the highest the 360 can RENDER is 1080i. It UPSCALES the image via component or VGA TO 1080P. The PS3 supports games that are rendered at FULL 1080P at a 1:1 pixel ratio. Please educate yourselves before making absolutely WRONG statement.
July 23rd, 2007 at 11:12 pm
I love my xbox360 and i’m now on my 10th 360 !!!!!!
really i dont care if it break’s all the time long as microsoft replaces it for free.
July 24th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
That really sucks, 10 360’s! Hope 10th one is a charm. :p
July 25th, 2007 at 10:41 pm
[...] Microsoft: Xbox 360 Sales Down an Unexpected 61% Thanks to Wii, PS3, Faulty Hardware Technology July 23rd, 2007 In the Microsoft Earnings statement last week, the Entertainment and Devices Division revealed that they had a loss of $1.16 billion thanks to flagging Xbox sales. Instead of shipping 1.8 million Xbox 360s like they did in the fourth quarter of 2006, they shipped 700,000, which is a dramatic fall-off this early into a console’s life cycle. What gives? It’s definitely not a lack of games, seeing as the Xbox 360 has a much higher library of titles to choose from compared with both the PlayStation 3 and the Wii. The two factors we can point to are one, the faulty hardware that led to a three year warranty from Microsoft, and two, the fact that both the Wii and the PS3 weren’t on the market yet this time last year. Both combine together to push down sales of the 360 into six digits. We’ll see if Microsoft can pull itself out of this one when Halo 3 comes calling. [Information Week via MTechXP] [...]
July 30th, 2007 at 11:31 am
[...] 360 sales plunge 60% in light of the most recent problems. Microsoft has also been hit with two class action lawsuits in [...]
August 9th, 2007 at 6:54 am
“Sales of the gaming machine plunged 60% in the fiscal fourth quarter”
for the record Microsofts Fiscal 4th Quarter ends june 30th. So “Hmmmmm, so sales were good in the 4th quarter? You mean sales of products were awesome during christmas time, and have now since fallen off? THATS AMAZING….”
Either way, .. Oh.. and Microsoft did lower prices after hearing that the PS3 lowered prices as well. Both systems are significantly behind the Wii do to the market in which the Wii targets, price point, and replayability..
August 9th, 2007 at 11:48 am
“For graphics and real online game play 360 is the best BAR-NONE!!! 2 and half years no problems.”
How have you had an X360 for that long? It came out in 2005 which is only one and one half years ago.
August 10th, 2007 at 8:05 am
What a typically horrible article about console gaming vs. sales. Nice to see all of you making it worse by trying to discuss and defend it.
August 10th, 2007 at 10:30 am
Yes, Im a PS3 owner, and I love it. And I will admit, right now, MS has more games, and a much better online service.
But you must realise, the PS3 is using brand new technology, and power wise, is a lot better than a 360, and even better than a wii.
Look at the ram for example:
http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/23/samsungs-in-the-90nm-512mb-xdr-ram-slot-of-the-ps3/Sony is using XDR ram, while the 360 uses DDR400 Ram. Even if MS has 512 mb of shared DDR400 memory at 700Mhz, PS3’s 256mb of XDR ram is 12 times faster than any other ram chip out there, running at 3.2 Ghz. So, PS3 already has much more ram. Its also running 256 MB of XDR ram for each of those 8 cell processors, one of those processors is used for handling tasks not involving games, and one more processor going to either games or anything else.
August 10th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
[...] It’s definitely not a lack of games, seeing as the Xbox 360 has a much higher library of titles to choose from compared with both the PlayStation 3 and the Wii. The two factors we can point to are one, the faulty hardware that led to a three year warranty from Microsoft, and two, the fact that both the Wii and the PS3 weren’t on the market yet this time last year. Both combine together to push down sales of the 360 into six digits. We’ll see if Microsoft can pull itself out of this one when Halo 3 comes calling. [Information Week via MTechXP] [...]
October 5th, 2007 at 5:45 am
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