Xbox 360 console failure rate forecast at 16.4%

Overheating to blame?

Your Xbox 360 has a 16.4 per cent chance of breaking down, according to an analysis of the Microsoft console’s failure rates by an electronics warranty trading firm.

SquareTrade amassed a sample of 1000 warranty claims that have already been submitted for the Xbox 360 and found that 60 per cent of the failures were due to the infamous 'Red Ring of Death'. It found that both the Wii and the PS3 only failed about three per cent of the time, though sample sizes for both consoles were lower, in the "high hundreds".

Company CEO Steve Abernethy told publication 1up that it expects the 16.4 per cent failure rate to increase over time because many of the recorded malfunctions arose from overheating, as prolonged use increases the likelihood that a hardware failure will take place.

Abernethy admitted that its survey didn’t distinguish between the various Xbox 360 models, and that "most if not all" of the failed consoles were based on the platform's original motherboard.

Microsoft began shipping Xbox 360s with a new motherboard, codenamed 'Falcon', in October 2007. A third version, 'Jasper', is believed to be scheduled to appear this summer.

Last year, Microsoft extended the console’s warranty from one year to three in order to cover problems related to the Red Ring of Death. It also said it would reimburse customers that had already paid for repairs to their consoles. The combined bill for Microsoft has, so far, been estimated at $1bn (£500m/€650m).