Although Xbox One broke the first-day records in sales, users have reported issues with its disc drive. The company has decided to respond to reports that Xbox One owners are experiencing problems when they are using its disc drive by providing a free download. A number of the console’s users have remarked that the drive makes noises that are loud when they are inserting a disc. In some cases, the drive does not read inserted discs. Microsoft claims that a small percentage of owners are affected.
When the Xbox 1 was released on Friday, it sold more than 1 million units during the first twenty four hours. A statement released by Microsoft said that any customers who had made reports of problems and were to wait for a replacement would be offered with a digital download for free of one of many launch titles that have been published by its studios. Kotaku, a news website on gaming, was contacted by more than 100 people. They claimed their new consoles had malfunctions. NeoGAF, a gaming forum, also received videos from other users that showed the problem.
In eight years, Xbox One is considered to be the first new gaming console from Microsoft. Last week when it was on sale in 12 countries and the United Kingdom, it broke all past Xbox first-day records in terms of sales. The company further said it had currently sold out at the majority of retailers. At the same time, it was working on a system that would replenish stock in the shortest time possible.
Shipping damage
It was not the first instance Microsoft had problems with the release of Xbox. In 2005 during the launch of Xbox 360, some users made reports of faults with its hardware. The fault was connected with 3 lights flashing on the area in front of the console and the device becoming unusable. At the time, the fault was described as ‘the red ring of death’.
An analyst in IDC, Spencer Izard, told the BBC that Microsoft has suffered very significant problems with quality control even with the Xbox 360 consoles in the past. He added that the company had put in a significant amount of effort into its manufacturing process and hardware design to reduce faults. For launches being done over a number of countries the manufacturing volume that was required by both Sony and Microsoft was sure to unfortunately yield a small amount of failures in hardware. It is normal for this to happen in one way or another as we are seeing it with the current launch cycle.
Xbox One’s launch came one week after Sony’s PlayStation 4 was launched in the US. In this crucial Christmas season, these 2 consoles are expected to compete seriously. On 29th November, the PS4 will be on sale in Europe and the UK. The PlayStation 4 also experienced technical problems after its launch. Users complained that a light (blue in color) was continually flashing on the console. It affected its operation with some users reporting that at times the unit would turn itself off suddenly. Sony has said that several issues were reported in its most recent statement.
Satoshi Nakajima, a Sony’s spokesman, told Bloomberg that this had lead the company to believe there wasn’t a singular issue that could have an impact on a wider percentage of PlayStation 4 units. He added that they understood that some consoles were damaged during the shipping process. Satoshi said that less than 1% of gaming consoles they had sold were affected.
The giant retailer, Amazon, made a statement saying that it had shipped more PS4 units than any gaming console in history. It confirmed that it was working together with Sony in an effort to assist the percentage of clients who reported issues. In a statement, Mr. Izard has said more users were aware of issues with the consoles than in the past as a result of postings made on social networking websites.
Overall, he did not believe they would see significant manufacturing issues with either the Sony or Microsoft console. All the same, social media will ensure the marginally few that happen will be more apparent to any interested parties wishing to make a purchase during the coming holiday season.