MS cuts 360 forecast

[Coded-Dude]

Shipment figures reduced to 12m for fiscal year '07

Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division has posted a US $289 million (EUR 223.6m) loss for the second quarter - and cut fiscal year estimates for Xbox 360 hardware.

The company now expects to ship a total of 12 million units by the end of June 2007, down from the original estimate of between 13 and 15 million.

"We are just being cautious about the second half," commented Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell to news agency Reuters. "There's a reasonable amount of inventory in the channel."

Despite the US $289 million loss, the Entertainment Devices division was responsible for US $2.63 billion (EUR 2.03) profit during the second quarter.

The Entertainment Devices division not only incorporates the Xbox 360 and software, but also the newly launched Zune media player, PC games, TV platform products, and mobile and embedded devices.

According to Microsoft, repair expenses and the extension of the 360 console warranty from nine months to a year in the US and Canada ate into the division's profitability.

Microsoft posted a revenue increase of US $1 billion (EUR 773m) for the division during the second quarter, with a US $1.3 billion (EUR 1bn) increase for the first half. Revenue for the Xbox and PC game departments grew 76 per cent and 82 per cent, respectively.

Results showed that the company has sold 10.4 million Xbox 360 consoles, as previously revealed by Robbie Bach at this year's CES. The second quarter saw 4.4 million units shipped ended December 31 2006, boosting the first half total to 5.4 million units.

The overall company profit was down to US $2.63 billion (EUR 2.03bn), a drop of 28 per cent, compared to US $3.65 billion (EUR 2.82) in the previous year.source (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=22385)

Well, they certainly pushed as many out the door as possible to make it seem they really did hit their 10 million mark, but flooding the market inevitably led to this move(obviously). Also, they need to get on the arse of their manufacturers and make more "stable" hardware. While this is not all that surprising, it is interesting to say the least.

[Haoshiro]

Oddly enough the source doesn't mention that Microsoft also saw a 76% increase in revenue (http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/758/758560p1.html) over the same period last year (for it's Entertainment Devices division).

[GFLPraxis]

Yup, MS tried to meet their ten million figure and flooded the market. Now every store has dozens of XBox 360s, so they're only going to ship 2 million in the next 6 months because stores are already full.

[BengalDuck]

...the 360 that came with my XBOX premium was broken from when i opened it (right trigger stuck)... so I paid for my shipping myself to their factory, yet they claim they have no record of receiving it and wouldn't send me another one.

You would think that after paying $400 for my system, another $150ish for my three games, two additional battery packs, two other wireless controllers, and a rechargable plug thing... after all that they would give the benefit of the doubt to the customer. I understand that they don't want to get screwed out of giving away free stuff but it sucks from my point of view because now i'm out a $50 controller that I sent away to the abyss.

[raggedjimmi]

Crap! That's bad luck BengalDuck :(

[JackAxe]

That completely sucks!!! :( Have you had any follow ups? There has to be something you can do to recover your losses?

How did you ship it? You might be able to track if it ever reached their location.

And call your credit card company if you paid for it that way. Most cc companies will refund you the entire charge, if you can show that you were screwed. We've had to take this measure more than once with eBay purchases. Then the credit card company goes after the store to recover their funds.

<]=)

[erickkoch]

...the 360 that came with my XBOX premium was broken from when i opened it (right trigger stuck)... so I paid for my shipping myself to their factory, yet they claim they have no record of receiving it and wouldn't send me another one.


I took no chances when I shipped mine back through the US Post Office. I paid a couple of dollars more for a delivery comfirmation receipt. For a little more you can even require a signature for the delivery.

Did you have any kind of tracking number?

[SpankyPenzaanz]

to BengalDuck:

Now was it only the right trigger that stuck because if thats the case then why send the console back because there are no triggers on the console itself. :confused:

edit: why didn't you just return it to the store where you bought it?

[zap2]

to BengalDuck:

Now was it only the right trigger that stuck because if thats the case then why send the console back because there are no triggers on the console itself. :confused:

edit: why didn't you just return it to the store where you bought it?

Good call...Hopefully MS will feel the heat from Nintendo/Sony and low xBox prices!

[macbookprouser]

ive already bought and sold a 360. the pc is just so much better. i want a wii though. bowling rocks. and i wanna play the new zelda

[islandman]

No matter how you look at it, Sony has a long way to go before they catch up.

[siurpeeman]

No matter how you look at it, Sony has a long way to go before they catch up.

ps3 was just released with not many, if any, killer games to be played. a little more time and perhaps mgs4 and ffxiii is all sony needs.

[MacRumorUser]

...the 360 that came with my XBOX premium was broken from when i opened it (right trigger stuck)... so I paid for my shipping myself to their factory, yet they claim they have no record of receiving it and wouldn't send me another one.

WHAT ? They send a courier directly to pick it up (microsoft) so why did you do this. That's probably why they dont have a record, because no RMA number was ever issued for your console :o

What happens is you ring the microsoft support number, then they issue you a rma number and send UPS or another courier to deliver a package. You parcel up your 360 or whatever your returning in thte brown parcel and attach the sticker to the box, you then ring back the courier and they collect it.

All FREE of charge.

Also was it just the controller right trigger stuck if so you should have only sent the controller. Man you really did go about it in a very WRONG way.

I hope it gets sorted - but it's not really M$ fault that they cant find it unfortunetly.

You should have either returned to the store, or rang the proper support number. oh well best of luck anyway.



edit. re-reading your post ? now i'm out a $50 controller that I sent away to the abyssso it was just the controller you sent back. ? Now I really am confused ? No wonder M$ are

[pcypert]

I know I'm saying it a bunch, but they can ship more of the 360's here to Thailand as they're not staying on the shelves here unlike the Wii's and PS3's...it's the exact opposite here. People are bringing back Wii's.

Paul

[zap2]

I know I'm saying it a bunch, but they can ship more of the 360's here to Thailand as they're not staying on the shelves here unlike the Wii's and PS3's...it's the exact opposite here. People are bringing back Wii's.

Paul

Really? Is that what you personally have seen, or is it a nation wide thing(as in there are reports about it on the news ect)

[BengalDuck]

I guess I made a typo. I'm out the broken controller, not the entire console. And yes, I did not pay for a tracking number but next time I will.

Hell, yesterday and today my xbox is losing the signal of my lone wireless controller. every two minutes it's saying "please reconnect your controller" so who the f knows what's wrong, whether it's the console or the controller itself. all i know is that i'm probably not going to send anything off again.

[kasei]

My one week old 360 is at Microsoft for repairs. It is not surprising to hear repairs have eaten into their profits. If they had taken a just a little more time to build a better console they wouldn't lose so much money to repairs.

I guess that is Microsoft for you. Crank out a product you know has problems and worry about repairs and patches later.

God, I am glad I switched to an Apple. It would be very interesting to see Apple, Autodesk or Adobe enter the game console war. I know that would never happen because of the capital outlay and low profit margins on each console, but it would be interesting to see.

[zap2]

It would be very interesting to see Apple, Autodeck or Adobe enter the game console war.

Apple I could see doing it..they shouldn't yet, but they could.


Adobe would/should never do it...they make software not hardware

Who is Autodeck...they aren't on Wikipedia, and google search comes up with car stuff

[e²Studios]

Apple I could see doing it..they shouldn't yet, but they could.


Adobe would/should never do it...they make software not hardware

Who is Autodeck...they aren't on Wikipedia, and google search comes up with car stuff

I believe the OP meant "Autodesk" they make Maya, Autocad and other CAD/3D based imaging applications. (Maya was bought by autodesk)

Ed

[pcypert]

Yeah, it's something I've seen personally. Not anything that's made the local news. Couple reasons. First, no console is sold here as a zone or anything...meaning all systems are imported from Japan, US, and Hong Kong (most from Hong Kong). Second, everything is still a distant second to PS2 as that's the easiest for the folks to copy and the copy market here rules the legit one for gaming by a long shot....hard to blame them when it's copies or way overpriced imports since companies won't bring things over.

The 360 is selling like crazy though. Once people see it and see the games for it they're all over it...especially since both the 360 and the Wii cost the same over here (14,000 THB)...when one can get Fifa for the 360 and not for the Wii it's a no brainer for most :) . There's one major outlet for games and gaming here and I hang out there a lot looking at games and helping folks figure stuff out. I've talked to the shop owners and they're not pushing the Wii so much as they're not making money on them and people are trying to bring them out as they're now bored with them....they've seen the 360 and want that instead now. Something like 10:1 ratio.

Paul