Potential Xbox 360 shortages

by Steve Parsons { Jun 8th 2005 at 7:23AM }

xbox and xbox 360

Neil Thompson, UK head of Xbox, has stated that there may very well be shortages of the new Microsoft console come release day. Far worse than the current problems with poor supply.

He was quick to point out that this will be due to demand, not manufacturing issues. In short, so many people will want it, they simply won't be able to match demand.

So, we can obviously expect some enterprising creeps out there to horde them, then sell them for ridiculous sums on eBay. Of course, who's worse? The people selling? Or the people who actually make that a viable business opportunity?

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dmitri @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

Thee people who actually make that a viable business opportunity.

And I am a fortunate one. My highschool is next door to a major shopping mall with an EBgames and a Walmart. So I have a feeling that I will be likely to get one on release.

As for the rest of you, let's just hope the power goes out and then you can just run in and steal a few.

Lite @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

so the manufacturer is saying there will be a shortage? can anyone say artificial hype? sheesh!

Simon @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

Yep...artificial hype galore...it's another way to make people scared into pre-ordering one.

sony are famous for it!

funkonaut @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

Well, Microsoft did say that they will have 1 million 360 users. :-P

jg @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

i tend to agree with you guys, but the funny thing is it seemed like sony made a good effort to avoid that with the psp. there were no shortages and now people say that happened because the psp didn't live up to the hype. so i guess from their point of view its probably better to go the shortage route and have interviews with people on the news who got the last one in their local mega electronics store.

WizarDru @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

Weak, MS, weak. Weren't you here for Sony's NON-SELLOUT event a few weeks ago? If you've sold out of units, that's a failure on your part, not the consumer. Not that I suspect they'll be a danger of that, really. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't see folks running out to replace the Xbox with a 360 that quickly; while the increase in graphics is significant, it's nothing like the jump from the PS/1 to PS/2. I think the same thing will apply to the PS/3, frankly....but we really won't know for sure until we see actual previews of playable games and PRICES.

WizarDru @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

Actually jg, the issue was that Sony kept telling everyone that demand would be so high that they'd sell out. That didn't happen and Sony had egg on their face. For example:

------------------
"We expect to see a sellout within the first week," said Andrew House, executive vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment America, in an interview. "The early indications were that pre-orders were very high. But, we have a very good product flow... into April and beyond. Production started at 150,000 units a month and we're ramping up to double that very quickly."
-----------------------

Sony was trying to hype the PSP by saying if you didn't buy one, you might not be able to get one for a while...so join the cool kids or be cast out! It backfired on them...and having a short period where your product sells out is good marketing, which is why Sony was hyping it that way. Microsoft is trying the same trick, and I don't think it will work this time, either.

ChronoZaga @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

Now who's crazy for preordering way in advance?

hibiscusroto @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

damn...guess I'll have to wait on spending hundreds of dollars to play one good launch title

funkonaut @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

> Well, Microsoft did say that they will have 1 million 360 users.

Oops. I meant 1 BILLION.

cheekymunky @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

You have to remember too...this is close to Christmas...it's crazy at Christmas. People are going to want it for their bratty kid, and I'm sure they will sell out (I'm a video game retail manager). Preorders are going well, and it is the way to avoid the sellouts and keep the systems from the Ebay'ers. Christmas is a different time of the year. If it was coming out this month...then maybe no sellout.

jc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

As long as they take their time and build them right... so they don't catch one fire.

I was surprised when the XBOX was built with poor power supplies, and MS simply replaced the power cords. I hope they take the precautions to build quality into this system.

Personally, I am going to wait a bit to make sure they get the 'bugs" worked out. I won't pay that much money to be their crash test dummy.

Jason @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

My father has asked me to get him on a pre-order list for XBox 360.

Never once have my parents purchased a console for me, but after seeing spcs and demos of the XBox, he now wants one for his entertainment center.

If new and non gamers alike jump on the bandwagon there could be a shortage come release day.

Just do yourself a favor and get your Preorder in now.

Jason
http://www.xboxsoftmods.com

Devon @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

Power supply bug? BIG DEAL!!! The risk was like less than 1 in 30 000. Not to mention sony is much worse, so many people had to have their first gen PS2 replaced due to poor dvd drive or something else. Not to mention the PSP which sony hasn't even bothered to fix the related problems for. With microsoft you certainly still run the risk of problems, but I think they made it clear that they correct their mistakes FOR FREE.

Whatever @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

To Devon

Sure dude.
Calm down, this kind of stuff is bad for your hart.

and oh yeah, Bill Gates is asking if he can come out of your ass again?

jc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

Yo, Devon... chill out dude.

For one, I never mentioned Sony... who cares.

And for the record, Microsoft did not correct their problems. Handing out several thousand surge protector cords that shut off when they draw too much current is not a fix. Those XBOX's still represent a fire hazard, but at least the electricity will shut off. You may lose your XBOX in a fire, but you won't get electrocuted when you spray it down to dowse the flames. Trust me when I say the XBOX problem is not "corrected".

I have fixed many playstation 2's and many xbox's. I think a little "disc read error" is safer than a shock/fire hazard. (both are easily fixable, btw... is sucks that neither company has gotten off their fat asses to do anything).

But since this is about the Xbox... my above statement stands true. I will not be one of the first people. I have little trust in Microsoft... and for the record, I will be buying an XBOX360 before a PS3.

CheapyD @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

What do you expect Mr. Thompson to say?

"Yeah, not to worry, there will be plenty of Xbox 360s for everyone. Gamers really aren't that interested in a new console as developers are just now starting to hit the peak of what current Xbox can handle."

Myria @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

Ah yes, the Xbox... Why just yesterday I was walking down the street and passed the smoldering ruins of a house. "What happened?" I asked of a fireman who was standing watch.

"Xbox," he said gravely.

I nodded sagely, for all know the horrors that device has created. The city blocks razed, the hospital wards filled with children shocked nearly to death, the occasional disk read error. "Why?" I asked the heavens, "why won't they do something?"

"I don't know, Miss," the firefighter replied sadly, "I just... Don't... Know..."

Sadly it's only the internet kooks that seem to care. Sure they have no sense of scale, and, granted, their knowledge of electrical design wouldn't fill a buckyball, but at least they care. At least they're always there to remind us of what we should all know...

The Xbox, unsafe at any speed!

Fist Of Konshu @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

What a stuffed shirt.

(insert snobby tone) Our system will sell so well that we won't have enough of them to cover the demand. (insert snobby laugh)

Maybe you should just produce as many as possible and see what happens on release day. Quit trying to pump up your system superficiously.

jc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

Dear Myria,

I surely welcome some debate on the finer points of Ohm's Law... or any other field of electronics. You might be surprised that some of us are actually trained and educated. But I suppose you being "ten thousand" times smarter than me, you already know that too...

Very funny story, btw. ;)

OtakuCODE @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

Creep or not, I just might try to get my hands on as many 360s as possible. Even if there's NOT a shortage, people on eBay are REALLY stupid and REALLY addicted to bidding. They'll pay 150% of retail for ANYTHING, even if it's carried in every Walmart in the country. Plus, you don't even have to send them the item! Just take their money and rip em off! Ebay won't lift a finger. If Paypal calls you, tell em you shipped it, that'll confuse them and keep them out of your hair. If the idiot who tried to buy that 360 off of you for $850 leaves you negative feedback, counter with leaving THEM negative feedback AND disputing the feedback they left for you. It will cost them $20 to get the fake negative feedback removed from their account and another $20 if they want the negative feedback on your account to stick! Most people aren't going to pay $40 after they just got hugely ripped off.

eBay - scammers paradise.

(Note: Author is not an actual scammer. Post based upon experiences by himself and others on eBay and through observation of the ridiculous practices and policies of the House O Scams that calls itself eBay.)

WizarDru @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

Myria: [Golf Clap] Bravo. That was teh funney.

How can you pre-order a device without knowing how much it costs, anyways? Coming out in the fall is not a guarantee of sales, that's for sure. And having a shortage when doing so is no picnic, either. Sega sold out of their initial shipment of Dreamcasts, remember? People got pretty steamed when they couldn't buy one. That hardly was the sole deciding factor in the Dreamcast's eventual failure, but it was a factor, to be sure.

The DS didn't sell out its initial shipments, but over 5 million units later, I think you'd be hard pressed to call their launch a failure. The same applies to the PSP. Selling out of units is good press, if it's only for a few weeks; selling out for a few months, especially around X-mas, is a very bad.

Joost Schuur @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

Sure the shortages will be due to manucaturing issues. The issue is they can't manufacture enough in advance to meet the release date demand!

My local Software ETC is getting 14 on launch day, and I just pre-ordered and ended up being #26 in line. They claimed (which of course I'm taking with a grain of salt) that a week later they'll have a 2nd shipment that will magically fulfill the the other pre-orders.

14 seems low, considering that this store is in Orange County's biggest mall (South Coast Plaza). The clerk claimed they were getting much less than during the PS2 launch, because this is a world wide launch.

At least I won't have to camp out at midnight like I did for the Xbox.

Myria @ Dec 18th 2005 9:47PM

Dear JC,

Huh, silly me. Aside from a few Newtonian physics-like quantum issues, I didn't know there were any fine points of Ohm's Law to debate. Now inductive and capacitive reactance, now there's some debatin' ground. And don't even get me started on R/C constants!

"You might be surprised that some of us are actually trained and educated."

Surprised? More like astounded, stunned, and flabbergasted :).

"But I suppose you being "ten thousand" [...]"

I'm impressed. Hardly anyone ever manages not to mangle my name, let alone knows what it means. The bane of having a (relatively) unique name. 'Tis very sad, dontchaknow.