世界商业报道[biz.icxo.com]消息：美国软件大厂微软周四表示,其Xbox 360游戏机不可接受的高返修量将迫使该公司在最近一季中,提列超过10亿美元的支出,并宣布新的延长保修期规定。目前消费者对该款产品无法联网的投诉越来越多.微软表示,已经调查游戏机上三个红色指示灯闪烁指出的硬件故障的可能原因,并确定有多种因素会导致这一问题。
微软表示,仍预期Xbox电玩游戏部门在2008会计年度可实现获利,尽管2007年度提列超过10亿美元的Xbox 360维修相关支出。
In what may be one of the costliest consumer warranty repairs in history, Microsoft announced on Thursday that it would spend up to $1.15 billion to repair failing Xbox 360 game machine consoles.
While the company would not say how many units were failing, Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division, said that there have been an “unacceptable high number of repairs.” The majority of Xbox 360 owners, he said, have not experienced hardware failure.
Company officials said that Microsoft had sold 11.6 million Xbox 360 units by the end of June, shy of the 12 million units the company had predicted. The Xbox 360, which first went of sale in November 2005, is currently the best-selling game machine in the United States, according to NPD, a market research firm.
The size of the anticipated repair bill suggests that a third to as many as half of the machines are flawed.
Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., said it would take a charge of $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion against earnings in the quarter ended June 30. Consumers know they have a problem if three red flashing lights appear on the console. Gamers on online forums have been referring to the event as “the Red Ring of Death” because the machine then shuts down.
The company declined to explain the nature of the failure, but said that it was not caused by a single problem in the console, which it said contained 1,700 components and 500 million transistors. The company also said there were no health or safety concerns involved. The problem began to appear over the last three to four months, Mr. Bach said, after “significant usage” of the consoles. He said the company has taken steps to correct the problem in new devices.
