Submission + - Xbox 360 Warranty extended; Costs MS over $1 bln (microsoft.com) 1
appleguru writes: "Today Microsoft announced that they were extending the Xbox 360's warranty to a period of 3 years from the date of purchase, up from its current one year warranty. Anyone who has already paid for a repair of a general hardware failure on their console will be reimbursed retroactively. The new policy will set Microsoft back an estimated $1.1 billion USD. After months of denying there was an issue with the Xbox 360 console, Microsoft has finally stepped up to the plate and addressed it. In an open letter to the xbox community, Peter Moore offers this admission:
Some of the changes he is talking about include the Epoxy found on the CPU and GPU chips in the latest Xbox 360 consoles, as well as an additional heat pipe and heatsink coming from the GPU to help with heat issues. While those changes seem like a bit of a crutch instead of fixing the inherent issues (namely, a poor manufacturing process that is leading to bad BGA connections on the CPU and GPU), at least Microsoft is taking steps in the right direction."
You've spoken, and we've heard you. Good service and a good customer experience are areas of the business that we care deeply about. And frankly, we've not been doing a good enough job. [...] We are taking responsibility and are making these changes to ensure that every Xbox 360 owner continues to have a great experience.
Some of the changes he is talking about include the Epoxy found on the CPU and GPU chips in the latest Xbox 360 consoles, as well as an additional heat pipe and heatsink coming from the GPU to help with heat issues. While those changes seem like a bit of a crutch instead of fixing the inherent issues (namely, a poor manufacturing process that is leading to bad BGA connections on the CPU and GPU), at least Microsoft is taking steps in the right direction."
