AfterDawn: News

Microsoft Xbox division finally sees profit

Citing "robust demand" for Xbox 360 consoles, Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division (Xbox division) has finally reported a profit, making $89 million USD for the Q3 fiscal 2008.

"During the three months ended March 31, 2008, Xbox platform and PC game revenue increased $418 million or 85% primarily as a result of increased Xbox 360 console sales, Xbox 360 video game sales, and Xbox Live revenue," the company said. "Xbox platform and PC game revenue increased $1.4 billion or 42% during the nine months ended March 31, 2008, as a result of increased Xbox 360 console sales, video game sales led by Halo 3, Xbox Live revenue, and Xbox 360 accessory sales."

Total sales for the fiscal year were up 34 percent to $6.57 billion. Microsoft cited 7.5 million 360 sales for the huge revenue growth.



The other electronic in the division is the Zune media device, which also appears to have helped to bring about the profit for the Q3. Microsoft did not go into any details however.

Revenue and possibly profit is expected to see a large surge in the upcoming weeks with the release of Grand Theft Auto IV which has some analysts predicting $400 million USD in sales opening week for both the 360 and PS3.



Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 25 Apr 2008 14:43

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• 32 comments

• viny1313

  3 years later?

  25.4.2008 23:18 #1

• fgamer

  Um.. it takes time to get yourself established and to make a profit in such a tough business like the gaming market. So of course it's gonna take some losses AND time, even if it is "3 years later." Goes to show you that Microsoft is in it to stay and will take a loss and still get back up and try harder to fight in such a vicous market like this where your console can be diregarded and become a major failure. So congrats to Microsoft for getting where they wanted to get Xbox Live wise, Xbox 360 wise and downloadable content wise.

  25.4.2008 23:36 #2

• ZippyDSM

  You do realize it took 25B to tart the Xbox brand,creating a market is hell when you have to force your way through, hell look at the PS3 its doing poorly for being the succorer for the PS2 it has a 2-4B debt even,sony fouled up its launch and other things that has slowed its momentum.
  
  Now I see the PS3 doubling tis momentum by late late 09 mid 010, the 360 is a interesting mess its selling well when it should not be selling well...a strong fan base is everything I suppose the WII and PS3 have one in japan.
  
  My point being in all this MS has a large fan base but have made mistakes that have hurt them the design flaw that created the hardware issues for one but lack of Asian dev support will be its undoing.
  
  
  
  I wish MS would clean up their services and hardware the herding casual mentality they have just turns me off...at least Sony dose not herd their sheeple so harshly....

  26.4.2008 00:19 #3

• viny1313

  PS2 had a rough start at first too... Now it's "the greatest console of all time" :P
  
  
  Either way, I believe that no matter what,the PS3 will be successful, just maybe not as great compared to the previous. But, as long as Sony makes a profit they're happy lol

  26.4.2008 00:25 #4

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by viny1313: PS2 had a rough start at first too... Now it's "the greatest console of all time" :P
  
  
  Either way, I believe that no matter what,the PS3 will be successful, just maybe not as great compared to the previous. But, as long as Sony makes a profit they're happy lol
  YA but the PS2 is praticaly the SNES, plus they didn't run a debt with the PS2.

  26.4.2008 00:28 #5

• TBandit

  Wasn't expecting this for some time due to the 3 year RROD warranty they give out now.

  26.4.2008 04:12 #6

• viny1313

  Lol "3 Year Warrenty" :P
  
  My friend bought a 360 about just over a year ago, and as soon as he bought it he signed up for the warrenty. Now his just broke last week and his warrenty is up?
  
  I think they said it would be a complementary fix when he had the 3 lights. At first he had 1 light in the right corner in which they were gonna charge him like $160 to fix or something. He wrapped it up and made it overheat so he could get the free fix lol

  26.4.2008 09:48 #7

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by viny1313: Lol "3 Year Warrenty" :P
  
  My friend bought a 360 about just over a year ago, and as soon as he bought it he signed up for the warrenty. Now his just broke last week and his warrenty is up?
  
  I think they said it would be a complementary fix when he had the 3 lights. At first he had 1 light in the right corner in which they were gonna charge him like $160 to fix or something. He wrapped it up and made it overheat so he could get the free fix lolwarranties are vague and the manufacture doe not always cover the ship charges.

  26.4.2008 10:12 #8

• wabashman

  but MS does cover the shipping charges to and from the repair center.

  26.4.2008 12:08 #9

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by wabashman: but MS does cover the shipping charges to and from the repair center.not always........
  
  they have made a good effort in the repair setup...but like the 360 design it has a couple holes.

  26.4.2008 12:13 #10

• DXR88

  Take your XBox360 and hit it in the center of the case it will ether fix it or cause a fake 3 RROD hardware failure.
  
  i had to do that with mine. it will knock off the solder points off the GPU or a ram chip.
  
  i didnt buy and extended warrenty for Nothing.

  26.4.2008 14:47 #11

• georgeluv

  i wish microsoft lost 200 Bil on the 360 and never made a system again, its such a pile of trash.
  
  it wouldnt be bad if they owned up to thier mistake and gave you a new box when your old one gets an RROD but they dont, they make you wait 6 weeks then they give you back a refurbed unit that will break in months, if not already broken out of the box. its 100% obvious they are putting as little effort and money as possable into the refurb department.
  
  seriously, you know its bad when people are taking microsoft to small claims court over broken boxes that microsoft cant seem to repair. you can only get sent back a busted refurbed box so many times before you snap.
  
  buy your xbox360 from costco, it comes with a new replacement warenty for free, costco should be commended for the amazing polocy on broken 360's they have.
  
  are people going to even buy a first gen version of microsofts next system? they are going to have to throw in a new replacement warenty on all units or else thats going to be one tough launch, sony could KILL it then with ps4.

  26.4.2008 22:35 #12

• scorpNZ

  Microsoft made a massive blunder ,nah that ain't the word i need, more like incompetent to launch a console that was untested,it does'nt matter what the alleged percentage of failures is,the fact is there's a ton of em (except the console scratching discs that's down to user abuse)the point is they let themselves down & more importantly the gamer,in business you can't afford to make those mistakes,they still sell consoles somehow tho they won't sell as many as they could have,things will pickup again once word gets out that the console is really fixed ?? however the damage is done i'd say a fair few would have bought the PS3 instead of the 360 because of it,heads need to roll..nough said

  27.4.2008 01:59 #13

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by scorpNZ: Microsoft made a massive blunder ,nah that ain't the word i need, more like incompetent to launch a console that was untested,it does'nt matter what the alleged percentage of failures is,the fact is there's a ton of em (except the console scratching discs that's down to user abuse)the point is they let themselves down & more importantly the gamer,in business you can't afford to make those mistakes,they still sell consoles somehow tho they won't sell as many as they could have,things will pickup again once word gets out that the console is really fixed ?? however the damage is done i'd say a fair few would have bought the PS3 instead of the 360 because of it,heads need to roll..nough saidI would not say untested more like unfixed... the problem came up they did not fix it.

  27.4.2008 02:07 #14

• saltynuts

  funny how the RROD is such a big thing and they still sell plenty of 360s,it just goes to show the 360 got something that a lot of people want.as for me my 360 is almost 3years old and it runs great,and i have a crap load of games to go with it.

  27.4.2008 10:49 #15

• varnull

  It isn't so much of a big thing.. M$ have just paid the price for having a poor customer service setup. Combined with the fact that instead of replacing with new all failures they have tried to repair them (always a mistake).
  
  There are lots and lots of first release rrod machines that have been botched at still circulating on fleabay.
  
  The ps3 failure rate was initially also quite high.. about the same 2% with a few ongoing niggles. Sony learned from the M$ experience and instructed retailers to just replace from stock no questions asked above obviously proof of purchase.. no return for repair, no home collection.. just take it back to the shop and get another. If M$ had done this at the out, and greedy people hadn't tried to get rich quick on ebay the 360 would have the same image as the ps3.
  
  So eventually M$ see a profit.. it's not like they need it really.
  
  ChrisCL must be happy.
  

  
  
  Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work....

  27.4.2008 11:01 #16

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by varnull: It isn't so much of a big thing.. M$ have just paid the price for having a poor customer service setup. Combined with the fact that instead of replacing with new all failures they have tried to repair them (always a mistake).
  
  There are lots and lots of first release rrod machines that have been botched at still circulating on fleabay.
  
  The ps3 failure rate was initially also quite high.. about the same 2% with a few ongoing niggles. Sony learned from the M$ experience and instructed retailers to just replace from stock no questions asked above obviously proof of purchase.. no return for repair, no home collection.. just take it back to the shop and get another. If M$ had done this at the out, and greedy people hadn't tried to get rich quick on ebay the 360 would have the same image as the ps3.
  
  So eventually M$ see a profit.. it's not like they need it really.
  
  ChrisCL must be happy.
  PS2 you mean?
  and a 3 or 5% fail rate is normal is it not?

  27.4.2008 15:55 #17

• Gradical

  I think that the 360 fail rate is not as bad as it looks like, more than anything i think its more of a customer service + marketing mistake, i mean it is so shocking to see your xbox with the 3 lights blleping, and if that was not enough customare service has no way to help you, i mean you got the rrod and youre pretty much screwed, there is nothing for you to do, it is just ridiculous to make a system that when has an unidentified error gives you a code like this, it should have been more like, it stops working, and it doesnt even tells you what is wrong with it, so you call to customer service they ask you to see if it has any code on the ring, you tell them, no it just dont work at all, send it back try again, as far as i know, i have had several problems like that with many manufacturers hardware, HP, Microsoft, samsung, and every time i get a message that doesnt help me at all it only pisses me off more

  27.4.2008 16:54 #18

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by Gradical: I think that the 360 fail rate is not as bad as it looks like, more than anything i think its more of a customer service + marketing mistake, i mean it is so shocking to see your xbox with the 3 lights blleping, and if that was not enough customare service has no way to help you, i mean you got the rrod and youre pretty much screwed, there is nothing for you to do, it is just ridiculous to make a system that when has an unidentified error gives you a code like this, it should have been more like, it stops working, and it doesnt even tells you what is wrong with it, so you call to customer service they ask you to see if it has any code on the ring, you tell them, no it just dont work at all, send it back try again, as far as i know, i have had several problems like that with many manufacturers hardware, HP, Microsoft, samsung, and every time i get a message that doesnt help me at all it only pisses me off moreStatistically speaking 3 in 10 is not that bad the US government has a air plane or jet line that only works 60% of the time.

  27.4.2008 16:56 #19

• hulud86

  Quote:Originally posted by viny1313: Lol "3 Year Warrenty" :P
  
  My friend bought a 360 about just over a year ago, and as soon as he bought it he signed up for the warrenty. Now his just broke last week and his warrenty is up?
  
  I think they said it would be a complementary fix when he had the 3 lights. At first he had 1 light in the right corner in which they were gonna charge him like $160 to fix or something. He wrapped it up and made it overheat so he could get the free fix lolwarranties are vague and the manufacture doe not always cover the ship charges.Damn $160?! You might as well buy a new one, or get yourself a nice Wii. I've seen the ring of death a few times now (crappy Microsoft) and i never paid a dime for repairs or shipping charges. But it was the full ring each time so maybe that's why.

  27.4.2008 20:07 #20

• georgeluv

  3%.... your jokign right?
  
  at launch it was estimated at 30%, 1 in 3. that number is climbing higher every day because the longer people play them the more break. when they started manufacturing it they had instances where 80% of the boxes comming off the line were defective.
  
  fast forward to now, microsoft has yet to inform the public of any real defect or failure rate numbers, so we can only assume the worst. even the xboxs they are making RIGHT NOW can get the rrod, they actualy dont have any idea what really causes it, wich is why they absolutly cannot fix it.
  
  the ACTUAL, REAL, AS-IN-NOT-FROM-THE-MOUTH-OF-MICROSOFT failure rate is estimated around 16 to 25 percent for all 360s ever sold. this seems like an accurate number to me. i have also noticed that the more you actualy play your 360, and the more cpu intensive the games you play are, the more likly your 360 will die. way to look out for the hardcore gamers.
  
  http://squaretradebuyerblog.typepad.com/...fail-rates.html
  
  ^ the best info we can get on failure rates thus far, the summer 2007 squaretrade xbox360 return study.

  27.4.2008 21:11 #21

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by georgeluv: 3%.... your jokign right?
  
  at launch it was estimated at 30%, 1 in 3. that number is climbing higher every day because the longer people play them the more break. when they started manufacturing it they had instances where 80% of the boxes comming off the line were defective.
  
  fast forward to now, microsoft has yet to inform the public of any real defect or failure rate numbers, so we can only assume the worst. even the xboxs they are making RIGHT NOW can get the rrod, they actualy dont have any idea what really causes it, wich is why they absolutly cannot fix it.
  
  the ACTUAL, REAL, AS-IN-NOT-FROM-THE-MOUTH-OF-MICROSOFT failure rate is estimated around 16 to 25 percent for all 360s ever sold. this seems like an accurate number to me. i have also noticed that the more you actualy play your 360, and the more cpu intensive the games you play are, the more likly your 360 will die. way to look out for the hardcore gamers.
  
  http://squaretradebuyerblog.typepad.com/...fail-rates.html
  
  ^ the best info we can get on failure rates thus far, the summer 2007 squaretrade xbox360 return study.3% would be current PS3 fail rate projections,30-40% would be the 360s, lets face it patching whats broken to work for a temporary amount of time is not a sound plan.

  27.4.2008 21:14 #22

• DXR88

  Its a fact microsoft screwed up bigtime, and they will contnue to release garbage, Windows Xp Will be the Last best Thing otta ol' MS.
  its a shame really its sad it will end this way, boy good ol'Bill will not be pleased at all.

  27.4.2008 22:20 #23

• EricCarr

  That's a lot of Red Rings Of Deaths. This console is shit.

  29.4.2008 04:51 #24

• bdoggie08

  Originally posted by EricCarr: That's a lot of Red Rings Of Deaths. This console is shit.I agree with your statement..it is shit..but why do people still buy them? Why do game companies still manufacture games for the system?..just a couple questions to think about..

  1.5.2008 18:17 #25

• ZippyDSM

  Quote:Originally posted by EricCarr: That's a lot of Red Rings Of Deaths. This console is shit.I agree with your statement..it is shit..but why do people still buy them? Why do game companies still manufacture games for the system?..just a couple questions to think about..Well tis MS, MS has a huge fan base and the 360 games are easier to operate more often than not than the more sloppy PC ports, casual gaming is luertive because casual sheeple don't have brains *lick*
  
  =^^=

  1.5.2008 18:25 #26

• wetsparks

  except Microsoft isn't getting the casual gamer, Nintendo is. the reason companies still make a lot of games for it is because the games were in production when the 360 had that year head start. If they had known that the Wii would outsell it in a year and the PS3, even at $600 would sell faster at the start than the 360's start things would have been different. Also, it is so similar to the PC that ports are easy for more revenue.

  2.5.2008 17:12 #27

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by wetsparks: except Microsoft isn't getting the casual gamer, Nintendo is. the reason companies still make a lot of games for it is because the games were in production when the 360 had that year head start. If they had known that the Wii would outsell it in a year and the PS3, even at $600 would sell faster at the start than the 360's start things would have been different. Also, it is so similar to the PC that ports are easy for more revenue.bullocks there are 2 kinds of casual gamer, the gamer whos happy with what ever game he can find not caring about price,quality or loss of rights,ect,ect the other kind is a non gamer and is not interested in traditional games, zombies the lot of them....... they can cater to them all they want...BUT if quality is sacrificed to rush a project along I will call BS.
  
  Mind you I am a Game nazi black sheeple but still... :P

  2.5.2008 17:50 #28

• wetsparks

  how do those two people differ? first doesn't care about price or quality, pretty much the 5 million plus people that have bought mario and sonic at the olympics and that is the same person that doesn't care about traditional games.

  3.5.2008 00:59 #29

• ZippyDSM

  Originally posted by wetsparks: how do those two people differ? first doesn't care about price or quality, pretty much the 5 million plus people that have bought mario and sonic at the olympics and that is the same person that doesn't care about traditional games.the fact you are whining about quality dosent matter makes you sheep, you do not care if quality is increased or maintained you just what your titles and movies now.
  
  Of coarse whats worse the sheep happily falling the trail no matter where it leads oy the fools on the fence tossing pebels snickering at them, statistically speaking fools in the minority are the greater fools.
  
  So yes I am a double fool for "believing".

  3.5.2008 12:23 #30

• wetsparks

  maybe it is because it is late, but I don't understand what you are trying to say here. something about what kind of quality I care about and fools sitting on a fence? all I can think about is bed and Humpty Dumpty.

  5.5.2008 03:48 #31

• iluvendo

  What kind of accounting are they using if it too M$ this long to turn a profit ?
  

  If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck!
  "The flimsier the product,the higher the price"
  Ferengi 82nd rule of aquisition

  6.5.2008 03:01 #32