Slate: The Great Xbox Shortage of 2005

Interesting analysis of the great Xbox shortage from Slate. One of the more interesting internal email aliases lately is the Xbox one. Turns out tons of employees can’t get them so they are scurrying around trying to find boxes.

Jeff Sandquist, my boss, found one in Canada. His dad called him from a store there and said “they have two, you want one?” Jeff has been raving about his ever since. I asked him “has it crashed?” He says he hasn’t had a single crash yet in dozens of hours of play. He says it’s the best device he’s ever purchased. We’ll see if he says that five days from now (he has a famous test where software has to prove valuable over seven days for him to praise it).

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29 thoughts on “Slate: The Great Xbox Shortage of 2005

  1. Pingback: brilliantdays.com
  2. People can call it a shortage, since shortage does = demand > supply.

    Microsoft is committed to putting out consoles, on a weekly bases across the United States.

    John Porcaro (Xbox Marketing) had some questions with Neil Thompson about the “shortage”.

    http://www.johnporcaro.com/2005/12/neil_thompson_a.html

    I also have a 360 (great console, PGR3 rocks), and I do not have any scratches on the disc, it isnt loud, it isnt “really hot”, it hasnt froze, and it hasnt crashed.

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  3. People can call it a shortage, since shortage does = demand > supply.

    Microsoft is committed to putting out consoles, on a weekly bases across the United States.

    John Porcaro (Xbox Marketing) had some questions with Neil Thompson about the “shortage”.

    http://www.johnporcaro.com/2005/12/neil_thompson_a.html

    I also have a 360 (great console, PGR3 rocks), and I do not have any scratches on the disc, it isnt loud, it isnt “really hot”, it hasnt froze, and it hasnt crashed.

    Like

  4. I’ve heard the supplies are out weekly, but on the other hand, I’ve heard the first new shipment goes on sale Sunday (which is odd given that no one ships on Sunday), which is almost a month after launch.

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  5. I’ve heard the supplies are out weekly, but on the other hand, I’ve heard the first new shipment goes on sale Sunday (which is odd given that no one ships on Sunday), which is almost a month after launch.

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  6. So why aren’t we buying all of the consoles sitting on the shelves in Japan and selling them on ebay or corners over here. Hmmm… i am assuming voltage or format issue must be involved but still….

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  7. So why aren’t we buying all of the consoles sitting on the shelves in Japan and selling them on ebay or corners over here. Hmmm… i am assuming voltage or format issue must be involved but still….

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  8. Geesh, boy are you late on this game, sorta snooze news by now. I wailed, screamed, stomped feet, that my July pre-order was regulated to like March/April, now just resigned myself as totally apathetic about it all.

    But yet more firewood on the roaring trainwreck that was the Xbox 360 launch. Japan is lost, even with DOA4. Asia is lost. Europe/Aus is lukewarm. US was hot but moving cold. SA/ME cold as ice. By the time they get heavy supply and really start to zoom in on casual users, demand will have dropped off, as PS3 on the horizon. I wonder when MFST will actually admit that the sheer arrogance of a worldwide release strategy was a total abject failure. A good second place showing for awhile however. If Sony gets backwards compat down pact and has a compelling Live option on better footing, but I think both big guns are dismissing Nintendo all too easily.

    But, fyi, an interesting tit for tat, with J Allard and Kaz Hirai…

    http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=0&cId=3146281

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  9. Geesh, boy are you late on this game, sorta snooze news by now. I wailed, screamed, stomped feet, that my July pre-order was regulated to like March/April, now just resigned myself as totally apathetic about it all.

    But yet more firewood on the roaring trainwreck that was the Xbox 360 launch. Japan is lost, even with DOA4. Asia is lost. Europe/Aus is lukewarm. US was hot but moving cold. SA/ME cold as ice. By the time they get heavy supply and really start to zoom in on casual users, demand will have dropped off, as PS3 on the horizon. I wonder when MFST will actually admit that the sheer arrogance of a worldwide release strategy was a total abject failure. A good second place showing for awhile however. If Sony gets backwards compat down pact and has a compelling Live option on better footing, but I think both big guns are dismissing Nintendo all too easily.

    But, fyi, an interesting tit for tat, with J Allard and Kaz Hirai…

    http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=0&cId=3146281

    Like

  10. Microsoft just can’t win. If the 360 is sold out, microsoft get bashed and if they are not sold out people say it’s because no ones interested and the 360 is a flop.

    I’ve had mine for just over a week now and it’s way better than I expected. I really thought the games would be identical to playing them on a high end PC but personaly I think the 360 is way better.

    I’ve not yet had a single problem, no crashing, no freezing, no glitches what so ever, no disk scratching, it’s not over-heating (the power brick is no warmer than my PS2 used to get), it is very loud but I don’t mind because it’s a great system. Obviously some people would of had problems but I think a lot of the complainers are doing so simply because this is a microsoft product and they can’t stand the fact that the Xbox could be a huge success. IMO the 360 is a very well designed system and worth every single penny, it’s just a shame my girlfriends hijacked it.

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  11. Microsoft just can’t win. If the 360 is sold out, microsoft get bashed and if they are not sold out people say it’s because no ones interested and the 360 is a flop.

    I’ve had mine for just over a week now and it’s way better than I expected. I really thought the games would be identical to playing them on a high end PC but personaly I think the 360 is way better.

    I’ve not yet had a single problem, no crashing, no freezing, no glitches what so ever, no disk scratching, it’s not over-heating (the power brick is no warmer than my PS2 used to get), it is very loud but I don’t mind because it’s a great system. Obviously some people would of had problems but I think a lot of the complainers are doing so simply because this is a microsoft product and they can’t stand the fact that the Xbox could be a huge success. IMO the 360 is a very well designed system and worth every single penny, it’s just a shame my girlfriends hijacked it.

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  12. Darcey: Microsoft could have “won” if they released more systems in the US. The Xbox 360 is currently performing worse than the Xbox in every region it is available in. In Japan, they sold less than half what the first Xbox did in its launch week.

    The numbers speak truth. 300k in the US. That is simply not enough. I honestly believe they could have sold out 500k and I would call that a successful launch. As it is, it’s like giving flu shots to 30% of those who need them and saying it was a success.

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  13. Darcey: Microsoft could have “won” if they released more systems in the US. The Xbox 360 is currently performing worse than the Xbox in every region it is available in. In Japan, they sold less than half what the first Xbox did in its launch week.

    The numbers speak truth. 300k in the US. That is simply not enough. I honestly believe they could have sold out 500k and I would call that a successful launch. As it is, it’s like giving flu shots to 30% of those who need them and saying it was a success.

    Like

  14. very loud but I don’t mind because it’s a great system

    Well I mind when playing a DVD (sounds like a jet engine talking off), it’s all but unwatchable. Every unit I have played with (around 8) has had that ‘feature’. Lots of the reviews mention it, but gloss over it in the game-graphics spazfest. To me, it keeps it a (quite nice) game machine with a limited codec media player. But conquer the home this won’t.

    Ditto to Richard Brownell, but here’s the other thing, the die-hard loyals that pre-ordered this Summer are passed over for the Best Buy masses, not a very strategic launch. It’s better to develop momentum in the West and then tackle the East, but with only 12 backwards titles for Japan, that game was all but lost. You play your strongest hand first, as PS3 bound to launch in Japan first.

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  15. very loud but I don’t mind because it’s a great system

    Well I mind when playing a DVD (sounds like a jet engine talking off), it’s all but unwatchable. Every unit I have played with (around 8) has had that ‘feature’. Lots of the reviews mention it, but gloss over it in the game-graphics spazfest. To me, it keeps it a (quite nice) game machine with a limited codec media player. But conquer the home this won’t.

    Ditto to Richard Brownell, but here’s the other thing, the die-hard loyals that pre-ordered this Summer are passed over for the Best Buy masses, not a very strategic launch. It’s better to develop momentum in the West and then tackle the East, but with only 12 backwards titles for Japan, that game was all but lost. You play your strongest hand first, as PS3 bound to launch in Japan first.

    Like

  16. I managed to walk into a Costco last weekend around noon and buy one off the shelf. They are out there if you look for them. If you are willing to do the footwork, your effort will be rewarded.

    Microsoft’s stand on pre-orders for Xbox has always been that retailers should not do them but Microsoft can not ultimately control what a retailer decides to do. Like overselling their stock and not delivering to their customers. This is a retail problem, not Microsoft’s. GameStop is a good example of bad retail management. My friend Dave ordered an Xbox from their web store (VIA BN.COM) on Wednesday and got it yesterday and is now quite happy at home playing his machine (that came in a $1,000 bundle). There are still masses of people who went to GameStop B&M stores months ago, placed pre-orders and still don’t have a console. While I am sure that Microsoft would love to see that the people that put their orders in months ago get their console, there is nothing in Microsoft’s power to make sure that the retailer gives the consoles to the people that have been waiting the longest. Hell, if anything you should be upset at retailers like target who have a bundle in stock online right now for the xbox360 that includes a 30” LCDTV for $2,200.

    http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-9978838-7701468?asin=B000CQVINU

    Keith Patrick Writes: “I’ve heard the first new shipment goes on sale Sunday”

    This is the first new shipment for Best Buy. Best Buy as a company has decided to do a “Launch 2.0” style event where they held all of their store allocations that they received between launch and 12/18 for sale on 12/18 because they have their weekly flyer out this week saying that they will have Xbox in stock for sale on Sunday (Tomorrow). Because of this information people are already lining up outside of Best Buy Seattle area locations right now. At the last check there were already six people standing at the Bellevue Best Buy location. This is the same Best Buy where Bill Gates attended the launch.

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  17. I managed to walk into a Costco last weekend around noon and buy one off the shelf. They are out there if you look for them. If you are willing to do the footwork, your effort will be rewarded.

    Microsoft’s stand on pre-orders for Xbox has always been that retailers should not do them but Microsoft can not ultimately control what a retailer decides to do. Like overselling their stock and not delivering to their customers. This is a retail problem, not Microsoft’s. GameStop is a good example of bad retail management. My friend Dave ordered an Xbox from their web store (VIA BN.COM) on Wednesday and got it yesterday and is now quite happy at home playing his machine (that came in a $1,000 bundle). There are still masses of people who went to GameStop B&M stores months ago, placed pre-orders and still don’t have a console. While I am sure that Microsoft would love to see that the people that put their orders in months ago get their console, there is nothing in Microsoft’s power to make sure that the retailer gives the consoles to the people that have been waiting the longest. Hell, if anything you should be upset at retailers like target who have a bundle in stock online right now for the xbox360 that includes a 30” LCDTV for $2,200.

    http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/602-9978838-7701468?asin=B000CQVINU

    Keith Patrick Writes: “I’ve heard the first new shipment goes on sale Sunday”

    This is the first new shipment for Best Buy. Best Buy as a company has decided to do a “Launch 2.0” style event where they held all of their store allocations that they received between launch and 12/18 for sale on 12/18 because they have their weekly flyer out this week saying that they will have Xbox in stock for sale on Sunday (Tomorrow). Because of this information people are already lining up outside of Best Buy Seattle area locations right now. At the last check there were already six people standing at the Bellevue Best Buy location. This is the same Best Buy where Bill Gates attended the launch.

    Like

  18. But yet more firewood on the roaring trainwreck that was the Xbox 360 launch. Japan is lost, even with DOA4. Asia is lost. Europe/Aus is lukewarm

    Well – not exactly. It will be interesting to see how it goes in Australia – seeing as it doesn’t get LAUNCHED until March 6, 2006

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  19. But yet more firewood on the roaring trainwreck that was the Xbox 360 launch. Japan is lost, even with DOA4. Asia is lost. Europe/Aus is lukewarm

    Well – not exactly. It will be interesting to see how it goes in Australia – seeing as it doesn’t get LAUNCHED until March 6, 2006

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  20. To say Europe is lukewarm is just FUD. Plain FUD. There were lines in every store I was in. And it was sold out just the same as here.

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  21. To say Europe is lukewarm is just FUD. Plain FUD. There were lines in every store I was in. And it was sold out just the same as here.

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  22. FUD? When you have low low supply, sell-outs mean little. Your NEC Tablet, “sold out” too, back in the day. Do some reporting, the overall market-share numbers don’t match up, small pittance. And the UK is not the whole of Europe. Germany, Spain and France were washouts, Ireland was washoutish, with lots of fuming over high prices. Scandinavia was weak, with all those stupid “Joanna Dark apartment parties”. But the UK was indeed more comparable to the American response. More accurate to say hot in UK, lukewarm elsewhere in Europe. As many untis to all of Europe as in America.

    Well, yes, Aus. is a forecast, but if the rumbling and beat holds steady, same as usual, was lukewarm even for Xbox 1 days, somehow I doubt it’s going to turn red-hot lava. And for that matter so is Asia and ME, both haven’t launched either, but that outcome is a given. Basically North America, thus far, is the only strong ground for the 360.

    Winning Japan is the name of the game however. I think Revolution is going to do better than both the big guns think.

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  23. FUD? When you have low low supply, sell-outs mean little. Your NEC Tablet, “sold out” too, back in the day. Do some reporting, the overall market-share numbers don’t match up, small pittance. And the UK is not the whole of Europe. Germany, Spain and France were washouts, Ireland was washoutish, with lots of fuming over high prices. Scandinavia was weak, with all those stupid “Joanna Dark apartment parties”. But the UK was indeed more comparable to the American response. More accurate to say hot in UK, lukewarm elsewhere in Europe. As many untis to all of Europe as in America.

    Well, yes, Aus. is a forecast, but if the rumbling and beat holds steady, same as usual, was lukewarm even for Xbox 1 days, somehow I doubt it’s going to turn red-hot lava. And for that matter so is Asia and ME, both haven’t launched either, but that outcome is a given. Basically North America, thus far, is the only strong ground for the 360.

    Winning Japan is the name of the game however. I think Revolution is going to do better than both the big guns think.

    Like

  24. I was in Ireland. Sold out everywhere. I was in France. Sold out everywhere. In the first hour. You’re just FUDing. You hate me and you hate Microsoft, just be honest. You haven’t done any real reporting. You haven’t been to these markets.

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  25. I was in Ireland. Sold out everywhere. I was in France. Sold out everywhere. In the first hour. You’re just FUDing. You hate me and you hate Microsoft, just be honest. You haven’t done any real reporting. You haven’t been to these markets.

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