Xbox 360 shortage blamed on memory chip production problems

by James Ransom-Wiley { Feb 14th 2006 at 5:15PM }

While Peter Moore recently cited "component shortages" as the cause for the Xbox 360 shortage, the Xbox exec declined to specify which of the 1,700 components were to blame. According to Mercury News, unspecified sources have pointed to the production troubles of Infineon Technologies's GDDR3 memory chip. Besides having difficulty keeping up with demand, Infineon supplied manufacturers with a number of chips that did not run at the required 700-megahertz speed. This slowed production of the next-gen console as Microsoft was forced to sort the good chips from the bad.

While the GDDR3 memory chip fiasco has certainly contributed to the Xbox 360 shortage, it's not clear to what extent. It should be noted that, besides Samsung, Infineon is the only company capable of manufacturing the GDDR3 chips.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

C. Grant @ Feb 14th 2006 5:18PM

And it was the RDRAM that held up the PS2. Stupid RAM chips.

Harry Buttox @ Feb 14th 2006 5:24PM

Bull, it was lack of preperation.

Bloo @ Feb 14th 2006 5:29PM

What? You mean it wasn't held back all this time just to create false hype? I'm sure that giant pre-Chistmas release batch will hit any day now... LOL

Cyberclaws @ Feb 14th 2006 5:30PM

Got mine Launch Day at Costco and haven't regretted it one bit since. I'm getting the most for my money. Way to go 'Conspiracy Theorists'!

vadermaggot @ Feb 14th 2006 5:32PM

exactly #2 people who thought that it was some sort of ploy by Microsoft are daft in the head, "let's keep our product out of our customers hands and piss everyone off just for fun!" ( I don't see Mr. Gates doing that sorry.)

Enigma @ Feb 14th 2006 5:46PM

This is common with ALL products that use ram. PC gamers know this first hand as to why they cant get their graphics cards, etc. 95% of the time it is memory chips that hold everything up.

MS didnt "lack preperation" #2. They were prepared 2 years in advance to do a "worldwide launch". It was no news that they were doing this. Of course you would know better than a company such as Microsoft. /sarcasm

Scythe @ Feb 14th 2006 5:49PM

wait wait wait how many times has a X-boy talked crap that the PS3 isn't any good because it's from Japan? Well I'm not sure but that guy and girl don't look american to me and I'm sure that's not NY their in either.

Jeremy Wright @ Feb 14th 2006 5:49PM

I think this is what everyone figured. RAM, HDD or the actual motherboard seemed to be the most likely parts - largely because they are the most difficult to spec from a separate supplier.

Enigma @ Feb 14th 2006 6:00PM

#6

Those are the manufacturing plants that assemble the products (Taiwan or China).

And anyone who talks crap about something cause it is from Japan is a moron child who are not mature enough to argue in public discourse.

The ZeroCorpse @ Feb 14th 2006 6:05PM

No "X-boy" ever excluded 360 from talk of Japanese manufacturing, or talked crap about Sony or PS3 being from Japan. They talked crap about the COMPANY'S FOCUS being on Japan, while the 360 is focusing on western tastes.

Clu @ Feb 14th 2006 11:19PM

Hey Cyberclaws (#4) why bother telling us that you got a 360 and "haven't regretted it one bit". You're the one who brought up regret, maybe deep down you aren�t convinced it was a wise purchase? But I guess it�s too late to return it now huh?

Bloo @ Feb 14th 2006 11:49PM

Clu, please get one.

-1 Star for you

Clu @ Feb 15th 2006 12:15AM

Bloo, what are you referring to?
Oh maybe you just wanted to make a funny pun with my name and have no point.

+6 Stars for you (for making the funny joke)

ill trooper @ Feb 15th 2006 12:43AM

This has nothing to do with anything the consumer needs to know. What the consumer knows is "I can't find a 360 anywhere but Ebay and that sucks." People don't care what caused it, they just get bummed because they couldn't get it.

Microsoft caught a bad one on this one. They miscalculated with a world-wide launch. Not necessary. A successful U.S. might have made Japanese gamers more intrigued by the 360, something that will come eventually. I don't think it's really going to matter in the long run, it's a great system, but they have not gotten the full benefit of the 'early jump' on Sony. Sony can learn a lot from this - they probably see this as a reinforcing reason to roll out the system in different regions to build momentum. It will also give them more time to get a unified online service happening. The real advantage XBox has here is the Live Arcade/marketplace. Sony had better copy it feature-for-feature, and offer games for download like LIVE does.

Personally if the PS3 hits a full year later, I think a lot of people will entertain the idea of buying both - there's enough time to absorb the cost and get a PS3 as well as the Revolution.