Rumor: 40 GB PlayStation 3 Has High Failure Rate
By Chris on Wednesday, November 7th, 2007 at 4:21 PM PST In Game Companies, Game Consoles, Game Platforms, Gamer Life, Hardware, Sony, Sony
Gamed.nl is reporting that the new 40 GB PlayStation 3 has a failure rate of 40% – an astonishingly high number. According to the Dutch site, Belgian retailer Games Mania has stated that the new PS3 model is selling well, but 40% of the consoles sold have been returned due to hardware problems. The problems primarily relate to the system being unable to read discs, Blu-ray or otherwise.
I’ve yet to hear of anything else regarding problems with the new hardware, so I’d hesitate to say this is a new another Red Rings of Death scenario. We also can’t confirm the validity of these reports, so this could simply be malicious rumors.
We’ll certainly be keeping an eye on the situation.
via Gamer.tm
as much as I dislike sony, I simply can’t believe this is true.
Enter fanboys…..
I’d love to hear confirmation of this story before everyone starts the 360 comparisons.
BTW, I’m with weclock. I don’t like Sony but with the press that MS has over the 360 it would be hard to think that they would put out something that isn’t rock solid. Considering the time that they’ve had hardware on the market, you would imagine that they didn’t rush to get these things out.
Not only that, but 40% is ridiculous. The only possible way that could have happened is if someone on the design team intentionally broke it. it’s more like a 60% accidental working rate at that point.
Good thing I bought a 60GB version. No probs whatsoever.
I thought the RRoD numbers that were being bandied about (33% or something?) were ridiculous. Everyone knew failure rate was high, but that was just dumb.
This is even more ludicrous, since the hardware is already tested, validated, and solid. I won’t be surprised when this is debunked.
Why is this even reported as news on so many sites ? If its not even confirmed.
They need to post about something.
It’s reported as news because anything that is negative, rumor or not, is a hot topic. Once it’s debunked or confirmed, it’s not so much fun (unless Sony denies it)
HAHAHAHAHAHA. This is the biggest B.S. I have ever heard. HAHAHAHAHA. Why would you even post this if you had no idea if it was true??? A Dutch site??? Are you fucking kidding me. How about a U.S site where the console has sold the most. Maybe the Dutch are putting the discs in backwards.
Ron Whitaker said “I thought the RRoD numbers that were being bandied about (33% or something?) were ridiculous. Everyone knew failure rate was high, but that was just dumb.”
I believe that figure came from a former EB games employee called Mattieu something who said the failure rate from his experience was between 30% and 35%. There may be no truth to it at all but its the only figure that’s ever popped up from anywhere which is why it gets repeated.
You do have to wonder if the figure isn’t that high why Mircosoft never corrected it and released the real figure? I dont know how much it costs to repair a 360 with this fault but $1.1bn is a hell of a repair bill.
Using that total amount allocated for repairs we can rule out a lot of smaller figures. If there were only a 10% failure rate that would mean about $1000 allocated per repair which is obviously nonsense. 20% would mean $500 per repair which is more than a new console was back then so that’s probably too low also (unless they are still selling the console at a loss). If 30% of consoles were faulty that $1.1bn would divide up to an individual cost of about $300 which doesn’t sound that crazy.
@ Ron Whitaker
Yeah you are right….a 33% failure rate of the 360 is off….it is more like 100%, they will all fail eventually within MS’ projected product cycle lifespan
And Sony’s unit is completely rock solid fyi…this is bullshit
40% does seem O.T.T, but i have to say it does make a refreshing change from all the 360 bashing over the red rings.
and why is it that i could almost garantee that, true or not, sony WILL deny it, or at the very least claim its more than half that. it would just be too much of a kick where it hurts.
I really doubt this is true, but lets not forget, everyone doubted it was true about the 360 as well, saying it was user error, putting the unit on the carpet or whatever. You never know what can happen when a hardware manufacturer is desperate to cut its costs like MS was and like Sony now is. A lot of corners can be cut.
@norbit,
“There may be no truth to it at all but its the only figure that’s ever popped up from anywhere which is why it gets repeated.”
Actually, it started with the gamestop employee but was more or less confirmed indirectly by Microsoft which is why its now well accepted by the media. The 30 percent figure is derived by the fact that MS wrote down a 1.15 billion loss on a warranty for the 360. Based on the estimated cost of replacing each defective unit and the total number of units sold that would be covered by the extended warranty, one could surmise that MS anticipated replacing 30 percent of all units sold.
@ havoc of smeg
“and why is it that i could almost garantee that, true or not, sony WILL deny it”
Does this comment make any sense? All I can say is that I believe the 360 failure rate was much higher then 30%. The reason is out of everyone that I know including myself, 7 out of 11 360’s have failed, with two of those being mine. Either all of us were really unlucky, or the failure rate was much higher. Out of all the PS3’s that my friends and I own, none of them have failed. I think the extended 3 year warrenty for the 360 says it all. How can you profit from losing 1.1Billion dollars? Microsoft will always be bashed for the RROD. This will be a wound that will never heal.
Hmm, I actually believe this might be true. Sony has been rather desperate to increase sales so they might have rushed the 40 gb version…
Don’t get me wrong, I’m behind Sony 100% but they are in a bad situation right now. I don’t really expect the PS3 to sell well until next year.
As for the failure rate of the 360, its definitely at least 30%. I had a friend who had to switch his 5 times ever since it came out. Kind of ridiculous, but supposedly the Elite is working fine
haha good thing i bought an old 20GB it didnt have any problems but it was $100 more
Tony said: “Hmm, I actually believe this might be true.”
Why have we heard nothing about it from elsewhere? If 40% of the 40gb consoles are failing there would be thousands going wrong across the EU and it was just launched in the US so we would surely be hearing about problems. There have been no posts on forums or vids on You-Tube or anything else you would expect. All there is is a post on a Dutch website quoting an anonymous Belgian shop worker.
“I don’t really expect the PS3 to sell well until next year.”
Well its sold as well as the 360 did in its first year and no one said that sold badly. Its not sold as well as Sony expected but you have to remember that when it was launched Sony were expecting Gran Turismo 5, Final Fantasy 13 and Metal Gear Solid 4 to all be released this year.
Viscous rumor or not, I think there is something to be said about cutting corners to save costs.
Not only do consumers have to compare the low-end PS3 with the more expensive models for features, but they have to consider the increased chance failure expectancy.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the 40GB PS3 model went through less rigorous QA testing for the sake of saving costs.
Regardless, this things barely been out a month. We need more time before casting judgement anyway.
I’m always curious as why the 360 problems didn’t garner mass attention until this year. Seems like the worst timing for such negativity would be early in the life of a product cycle, not mid-life. If any of this is remotely true, it will be interesting to see how Sony deals with it.
Chris said “I’m always curious as why the 360 problems didn’t garner mass attention until this year”
You obviously weren’t paying attention. The failure rate at launch was even worse.
“Viscous rumor or not, I think there is something to be said about cutting corners to save costs.”
They have released a model with a lower spec but where on that model have they ‘cut corners’? Is there a cheaper less reliable part or one that hasn’t been tested properly that we haven’t heard about? If not then ‘cutting corners’ isn’t the right expression to use’.
“You obviously weren’t paying attention. The failure rate at launch was even worse.”
Your source? The fact of the matter is that in 2006 the failure rate of the 360 was given little to no media coverage. The initial launch scratch disc problem in late 2005 was even quoted my MS as being something like 3%. It wasn’t until 2007 until investigations and media coverage debunked any 3% claim.
And that is exactly my point.
The quality of a cheaper PS3 SKU, especially one that uses different parts, should always be questioned. The 40GB isn’t just a dumbed down PS3, it’s using an entirely new CPU, a new mainboard (lacking 4 USB, emotion engine, etc.), and most likely a totally different power configuration. To blindly accept the new SKU as equal to its bigger brothers is almost fanboyish.
I’m not claiming anything’s defective with the new PS3 SKU here. It’s speculation at best. Rumors or not, as a consumer, I take any news of defects seriously until they are debunked. If more rumors like these start popping, then it starts too look less like rumor. I guess we’ll see.
This is utter rubbish and very very bad journalism.
Failure rate on 40GB is less than 1% I would guess.
Are they trying to ‘read’ X Box discs or PS2 discs?
Does this guy work for MS, I expect so!
SONY should sue!
Tomo
Iam on my 4th 40gig in 18 months Ive had hdd error no sound no disc read controls no pairing up freezing disc wont eject now plus they sent damaged console due to bad packaging 4 ps3s and counting but in all my 360 died once in 4 years
Stve said: “The quality of a cheaper PS3 SKU, especially one that uses different parts, should always be questioned.”
Only if there is a reason to question the quality. There isn’t one so why are you trying to make something out of nothing?
Sony have categorically denied this stupid bunch of lies despite your best attempts to spin it into a problem and get people to doubt the quality a console that has incredibly good reliability. I know you probably had a bit of an accident in your excitement when you read the headline of this article but I’m afraid the 360 is still at least 100 times more likely to fail than the PS3.
If this stuff is true, it will be bad for Sony. But it would be good for me since I have the 60GB model. Maybe if I hold on to it until the Playstation gets more popular, it would be worth a whole lot of money.
I like how sites like to add gas to the xbox/ps3 debate and when they are questioned, suddenly the statements are retracted with an apology
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/28819/Sony-rubbishes-PS3-40GB-failure-claims
HAHA. The writer of that article made a big mistake. It was his 360’s that were being returned. He got the 3’s mixed up.
No, maybe they got the Dutch translation wrong.
The only thing accomplished here was riling up the Sony fanboys. Needless to say, I found my 15 minutes of amusement from this.
“I know you probably had a bit of an accident in your excitement when you read the headline of this article but I’m afraid the 360 is still at least 100 times more likely to fail than the PS3.”
Sorry to disappoint you, Norbit. My pants are completely dry. However, my congratulations if you ever get those wadded panties of yours ironed out.
Now that you have been vindicated, you can go back to jerking off in front of your 11 lb. girlfriend.
They’ve probably sold 5, from which 2 didn’t go well. That’s 40% for you.
Oh, source has been updated. They say its untrue now.
Quote from sony:
SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT EUROPE CATEGORICALLY DENIES RUMOURS OF HIGH FAILURE RATE OF 40GB PLAYSTATION 3
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) can categorically deny that there is a 40% failure rate on the newly release 40GB PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3) as has been reported on a Dutch website. Having launched in October, the 40GB PS3 has encountered the same industry leading, very low failure rates, comparable to the low level failure rates of the 60GB PS3.
“We are very proud of the quality and reliability of PLAYSTATION 3 and are disappointed that such extremely sloppy journalism has resulted in this totally inaccurate story,” said David Reeves, President, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. “Since launching the 40GB PS3, we have experienced a fantastic jump in sales and the failure rates have remained at the very low level that we not only strive for, but have been achieving since the launch of PS3.”
It’s true I just bought a ps3 on the 13th and my disk drive wont read any type of disk…It died while I was playing lego star wars on it. So today I’m going to try and return it and get a 80 gig ps3…The stupid thing only worked for 2 days.
SONY ITSELF DISPROVED THIS STATEMENT. They said it has the same failure rate as the other ps3 versions and even said it was very sloppy journalism (which it is, its obviously a person trying to get some attention)
I didn’t believe the 40% failure rate but I have now had two 40 gig PS3 machines disc drives fail. I bought a PS3 about three weeks ago. After about 10 hours of use and one firmware update the machine was unable to read a disc of any kind. I took it back for another one. After less than two weeks the new one has the same problem, it can’t read a game disc or Blu Ray. Amazing coincidence or is there something to these reports about high failure rate. Tomorrow I take my PS3 back for a new one, hopefully this will be the last. Thank goodness I bought the extend warranty from Best Buy
My PS3 40G was purchased on 11/03/07. My disc drive failed after 2 weeks. Called Sony and getting a replacement.
Does anyone here have a 40GB running without issue? This may be an interesting poll considering that a couple of people have actually had a number of failures.
This is definately true in my book. I purchased a PS3 5 days ago on november 29th, and when i plugged it in, it wouldnt read my disc, i went to gamestop, returned it for another one, worked fine for 3 days, then suddenly, the disk drive stopped spinning and reading disk again….so i returned it again, and am on my 3rd PS3 40 gig, hopefully this third one is a charm…. in my book the PS3 40 gig is 100% failure rate since i went through 2/2 PS3 40 gigs within 5 day period. lets see about this third one..
This is total bullshit and I would be willing to bet that none of the people on here who say they have problems do. In fact its highly likely they are the same person. If you do have a PS3 that has failed prove it. Show a copy of the returns note you received with the replacement. If you cant do that then STFU, stop spamming and go a play with your 360’s.
BTW Steve. I dont own a PS3 or a 360 which is why I’m able to see these story’s from an impartial and reasoned viewpoint. The reason I end up defending the PS3 so much is because of the amount of dumb anti Sony crap tits like you write. Why is it that 360 owners cant be happy with their console without trying to put down the competition? Honestly what is wrong with these people?
Maybe its a certain region, hopefully this is going to be an American or Japan region problem because we consume the most consoles.
its all luck, the Xbox 360 has a high failure rate and sofar i have been lucky, “knock on wood”. Im using my original Xbox 360 over a year now daily. always works fine.
As for the PS3, i dont own one, but usualy the quality of sony products is like any other device. it has to be the luck of the draw. Any electronic device no matter what it is can have problems. I just know if i did have a console that constantly broke, id be pissed off. that goes for all consoles and devices.
I dont care whos PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, PSP breaks, aslong as all mine are working fine. i wont defend either console. they are electronics. Anything can break. I have never had a console die on me. “knock on wood”
Hey Norbit how much money can afford to lose? I’ll take you up on that bet. Reply if you want some action.
I have all the new consoles and they have all failed. I got a Wii on launch weekend and it bricked after the first firmware update. Nintendo sent me a new one right away. I have a 360 that just RROD’d a month ago after 11 months of ownership. Microsoft sent me a new 360 (took 3 weeks). The reason I bought a PS3 was because the 360 RROD. In less than one month I had to return 2 Ps3’s.
I work in the game industry so I want to see all the consoles succeed. I have no reason to come here and tell lies.
@xboxlenny
i woundnt be so cocky,because like you i used mine daily for about a year, thought to myself “nah, im not gonna get this RRoD thing”.
so guess what happened about 2 months later?
yep, 3 red flashing rings!
im not saying you are going to get it, but dont be surprised if you do. i mean you said it yourself, the 360 does have a high failure rate.
I got the new 40G for 3 weeks, and it failed to read any type of disc (BD/DVDs…) it seems the motor simply stopped spinning. Returned to Sony for fixing..
Norbit’s comments about the PS3 are now null and void…he admits to not even owning one and frankly when one shoots off at the mouth as much as he does defending a product to the hilt he doesn’t even own….yeah.
Why is this bull**** Norbit? where is -your- proof to say otherwise? damn near ever -single console- released had problems of some kind or another…but in your half-baked, imaginary, Sony dominated world they can do no wrong…either that or your fanboi status on a product YOU DON’T OWN has blinded you to ANYTHING negative about it.
There is nothing impartial about your comments Norbit, -every single time- somebody says anything and i do mean ANYTHING about the PS3 you jump down their throats and/or outright insult them.
Conclusion: Get a life or find something else to troll/flame…either that or go buy a PS3…that way you’ll at least have some credibility when you defend it.
My PS3 won’t play any disc anymore.I bought the 40 gig 3 weeks ago and while playing it said reinsert disc and since then it did not recognize disc anymore.
It sucks!I should have bought the 80 gig version.BTW I’m in Canada.
And I am not saying that against Sony but this rumor could have some thruth in it.I’m sending it back to Sony…
@ havoc of smeg
I can agree and not being cocky. I know my Xbox 360 can die anyday. When i purchased it over a year ago, i made sure it came with a 3 year warranty from bestbuy. This was even before microsoft had their 3 year warranty.
I dont trust my Xbox 360 as far as i can throw it. Thats why i “knock on wood”. when i type this. Any day i do expect the red ring of death.
I bought my 40GB PS3 on 1-Dec-2007 but it failed to read any discs after only 11 days. Probably just a bad luck. I took it back today and got a refund.
The store guy told me that another 40GB PS3 got returned for the same reason.
Not sure about 40% though. Well it’s new, it takes time to iron out problems.
I think I will wait for 60GB version to become available as I cannot find stock any where! It’s been around for some time so it should be OK by now…
My ps3 came up saying insert disk after playing uncharterd for couple of hours put disk back in nothing quit game now disk dosnt apear to play game only had the thing 3-4 weeks
i knew it..ps3 are shit no1 wants them they are too advanced for the gaming industry if it was released in 2010 then people would understand and buy them
p.s wiis rok mmy socks
ok this I just posted on the official PS3 board
Well, my PS3 is officially dead too. I bought it yesterday, with 2 games: PES08 and Assassin’s Creed. I updated it immediately after installing to 2.01 firmware and it worked fine.
So today I decided to continue playing Assassin’s Creed a bit and BANG, the screen locks up after an hour or 3.
At that point I’m thinking: “No biggie, let me try pushing some buttons on the controller.” That didn’t work either, in fact nothing worked except turning the PS3 off manually. I did just that and since then it doesn’t read any disc, BluRay, DVD, CD, etc… I can still download the demos and play them or play anything installed on the hard drive, but no discs.
I’m not a PS3 hardware alumni, but I think the guy who stated it’s an issue with the firmware update of the BluRay player specifically is spot on.
Anyways, I’m going to the store I bought my PS3 from on Monday and see if my garanty is any good.
For those having a hard time believing, COME SEE MY BRAND NEW DEAD PS3. admission price: 5 euro
On the upside, I had approx. 18 hours of fun with my BRAND NEW PS3.