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Xbox 360 failure rate still highest, says SquareTrade study

According to an independent report by the warranty company SquareTrade, the Nintendo Wii is the most reliable of the current generation consoles, while the Xbox 360 remains the console with the highest system failure rate.

After two years of ownership, Wii owners reported only a 2.7 percent failure rate, with the PS3 in the middle at 10 percent, and the 360 at 23.7 percent. Excluding RROD errors, which are covered by a Microsoft warranty for 3 years, the Xbox 360 still had an 11.7 percent failure rate.



The sample size for the study was 16,000 units, but there are some notable facts to note. Most of the Wii failures were due to power issues and most of the non-RROD errors for the Xbox 360 was "Disc Read errors," the same as the PS3. Usage was also a factor, because the Wii, according to Nielsen numbers, is just about half of that of the Xbox 360. The report says the average 360 console is played or used for 1191 minutes per month, followed by the PS3 at 1053 and the Wii lagging way behind at 516.

Perhaps more notably, the report concludes that the new "Jasper" based Xbox 360s, which began shipping in late 2008, have almost completely killed RROD, and SquareTrade expects the failure rate to continue to fall as 2009 continues.

You can read the full PDF here: SquareTrade console reliability PDF

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 2 Sep 2009 20:12

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• 20 comments

• intobox

  Maybe the Jaspers RROD exactly the day after the 3 year warranty runs out.

  2.9.2009 22:05 #1

• spartybob

  It only took what? 5 years to fix the problem. Who says Micro$oft doesn't care about the consumer.

  2.9.2009 22:52 #2

• chris4160

  Originally posted by spartybob: It only took what? 5 years to fix the problem. Who says Micro$oft doesn't care about the consumer.2009 - 2005 = 4... who'd thunk it :-). Oh, and according to ps3 fanboys the rrod is worse than ever.

  2.9.2009 23:28 #3

• Amak

  I'm willing to bet the issue only seems horrendous because of the coverage it has received.

  3.9.2009 00:58 #4

• Pop_Smith

  Originally posted by Amak: I'm willing to bet the issue only seems horrendous because of the coverage it has received.I'd somewhat agree. The most quoted failure rate is 54.2%. That is extremely high but it wouldn't "sound" that bad if it wasn't posted in tons of places on the internet.
  
  Also, the new "Jasper" chipset is supposed to almost completely eliminate RRoD. If this holds true that would put the 360 within less than two percent of the PS3's 10% failure rate.
  
  The RRoD problem, afaik, came from Microsoft designing the circuit board for the GPU themselves instead of via a reputable source. See here for more info.
  
  With an entirely new chipset and circuit board (and probably almost the entire "guts" of the XBox 360) it should almost entirely eliminate the RRoD if the Microsoft-designed board was the biggest cause of failure. However, we will see if that becomes a fact in the next few months/years.
  
  Peace

  3.9.2009 02:21 #5

• chris4160

  Quote:Originally posted by Amak: I'm willing to bet the issue only seems horrendous because of the coverage it has received.I'd somewhat agree. The most quoted failure rate is 54.2%. That is extremely high but it wouldn't "sound" that bad if it wasn't posted in tons of places on the internet.
  
  Also, the new "Jasper" chipset is supposed to almost completely eliminate RRoD. If this holds true that would put the 360 within less than two percent of the PS3's 10% failure rate.
  
  The RRoD problem, afaik, came from Microsoft designing the circuit board for the GPU themselves instead of via a reputable source. See here for more info.
  
  With an entirely new chipset and circuit board (and probably almost the entire "guts" of the XBox 360) it should almost entirely eliminate the RRoD if the Microsoft-designed board was the biggest cause of failure. However, we will see if that becomes a fact in the next few months/years.
  
  PeaceI've repaired a few xbox's and have heard a lot of stories and it seems as though the major cause for rrod is the cheap lead free solder. Although I have never heard of a jasper rrod.
  
  Anyway this is the second irrelevant xbox 360 rrod news story, this is all in the past.

  3.9.2009 03:57 #6

• KillerBug

  So they removed the RROD capabilities from the new chip...now it just crashes to a black screen when the cheap solder cracks.
  

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  3.9.2009 04:53 #7

• slickwill

  Well the RROD problem allowed bargain hunters to purchase those defected console for cheap on eBay. Then fix them up using the X-Clamp Fix. That's how I got my 360 and it has worked out great.

  3.9.2009 09:15 #8

• Interestx

  Actually the thread titles is out of date, according to SquareTrade.
  
  They list the current Jasper Xbox (the only SKU now available new) as having a failrate of less than 1%.
  
  Amusingly they list the PS3 as having a failrate of 10% (or 1 in 10).
  
  PS3 slim has only just arrived on sale so it'll be interesting to see if that takes the PS3 failrate down and given the hardware it ought to.
  
  This is similar to the Xbox history; whilst there was no independent verifiable data (like this SquareTrade data) we knew that the later Xbox SKUs must have had much smaller failrates because of the better cooler running hardware used.
  
  Class leading reliability and a class leading warranty.
  Belt and braces.
  That's some turn-around.
  Kudos Microsoft.

  3.9.2009 09:43 #9

• MReprogle

  Originally posted by Interestx: Actually the thread titles is out of date, according to SquareTrade.
  
  They list the current Jasper Xbox (the only SKU now available new) as having a failrate of less than 1%.
  
  Amusingly they list the PS3 as having a failrate of 10% (or 1 in 10).
  
  PS3 slim has only just arrived on sale so it'll be interesting to see if that takes the PS3 failrate down and given the hardware it ought to.
  
  This is similar to the Xbox history; whilst there was no independent verifiable data (like this SquareTrade data) we knew that the later Xbox SKUs must have had much smaller failrates because of the better cooler running hardware used.
  
  Class leading reliability and a class leading warranty.
  Belt and braces.
  That's some turn-around.
  Kudos Microsoft.Great post. I love the failure rate comparisons of the new Jasper chip compared to the PS3. Though, I bet I will still be hearing about the RROD, twenty years from now as a reason of why Xbox sucks. People are ignorant and can't look at the current facts, and they just hold on to one negative point forever.

  3.9.2009 10:30 #10

• Interestx

  True.
  
  Personally I've never said the original 2 Xbox SKUs (Xenon & Zephyr) were not bad because of their failrate, it was plainly unacceptable.
  But they did man-up, accept the problem was real, fixed the hardware and offered the best waranty out there.
  
  I find it sad that certain people prefer to attack that and run-down a 3yr warranty rather than push for it to be an industry-wide norm.
  
  When the 45nm Xbox SoC model (Valhalla) finally appears even Jasper's reliability will improve further too.
  Fractions of 1%.
  Nice.
  
  .......and if people really want to talk about reliability then how about how we can see PS3 has a 1 in 10 failrate?
  As I said I expect that to fall with the slim - but for all those with 'fat' PS3s I don't think that is a particularly great record either - and if I owned a PS3 with that sort of chance of it failing I reckon I might think again whether or not maybe that 3yr warranty is 'a good thing' aftyerall.

  3.9.2009 10:42 #11

• creaky

  Originally posted by MReprogle: I bet I will still be hearing about the RROD, twenty years from now as a reason of why Xbox sucks. People are ignorant and can't look at the current facts, and they just hold on to one negative point forever. 'fraid that RROD is one rather incredibly large, massive negative point though, for me so much so that I only plucked up the courage to buy my first 360 late last year. Well i bought two of them, both brand new so i didn't have to guess whether some spotty teen had opened them up and messed with them, and if (sorry, when!) i have problems i will be taking them back to the store in the first instance. I didn't get the Jasper models, had done some research but GTA IV swayed me into purchasing a month or few before Jasper started hitting the shops. It took me a long time to stop feeling uneasy every time i used the consoles, they're expensive items. Never worried about buying consoles before, apart from a fat PS2 i bought (brand new) for the kids back at launch, have always bought used consoles prior to the 360's, and since the 360's, and as i say, with 360's i just wasn't going to risk buying used as you have the RROD to contend with before you even start.
  
  That said i love my 360's however, as i say it just took me a long time to stop worrying every time i powered one of the consoles on :) ..i'm now at the stage that if/when one or both of them breaks they'll just have to stay that way until i find a new job, no point worrying about it all the time, we usee consoles to have fun after all.
  

  
  
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  3.9.2009 10:51 #12

• voyager

  How is that PS3 slim is coming and Xb360 slim even don't exist in the minds of microsoft?

  3.9.2009 17:05 #13

• KSib

  I don't know that it will be making an appearance. The older XBox is fat too. They're basically like computer towers. Maybe they will when this RROD stuff is more under control in the media.... maybe. I don't have a 360 or a normal XBox, but here's hopin for a slimmer version that doesn't cost over $300 :)

  3.9.2009 17:23 #14

• xnmalletx

  Quote:How is that PS3 slim is coming and Xb360 slim even don't exist in the minds of microsoft? Umm, I don't know what you are trying to say. I mean, I'm not trying to be harsh about it but just read it over before you click Post Reply. How about "How is the PS3 slim coming? The Xbox 360 doesn't exist in the minds of Microsoft." Sorry everyone, just a little pet peeve of mine.

  3.9.2009 18:48 #15

• KSib

  What are you talking about mallet? His post made sense.
  
  He's saying why isn't Microsoft making an XBox 360 slim if Sony is doing it. He's wondering why Microsoft may not make a slim model.
  Your "fix" to his post read, "The Xbox 360 doesn't exist in the minds of Microsoft;" which is not what he was conveying... actually what you're suggesting doesn't even make sense.
  
  I don't think you read, but skimmed the single sentence he wrote. Don't sound so annoyed that someone triggered your pet peeve when in reality that didn't happen.

  3.9.2009 19:16 #16

• xnmalletx

  ok, just had to get that cleared up, sorry

  3.9.2009 20:44 #17

• KSib

  No problem :) No harm, no foul is what I think.

  3.9.2009 20:59 #18

• galwaygem

  Hi, does anyone know if there is anybody in Galway that can fix the xbox 360 RROD, Thanks

  5.9.2009 19:36 #19

• KSib

  Uh... call around? Galway, Ireland? You may just have to send it in. I'd also read the forums here, I imagine there are guides you can follow to try and fix it (warranty voiding and non-warranty voiding). Good luck. Sorry about the problem and good luck.

  5.9.2009 20:14 #20