Xbox pull confirmed at retail and by publishers

[Mikhal]

From Spong.com

SPOnG has received emails that indicate a complete withdrawal of Xbox hardware in the coming months, with claims surfacing today of a total end to generation one Xbox production.

According to senior sources within publishing, retailers are being instructed not to list Xbox hardware in their next catalogue publications. “They are telling us that they have reached their targets and want to clear the way for the next machine,” we were told, with our source speaking under terms of anonymity. “It’s reached the point where the amount of money they lose per unit, combined with the fact that they might well eat into their own [Xbox 360] market share, means that continuing the run is just not feasible.”

Of course the big question remains of exactly how many Xbox hardware units are still available. “There are only two million units left and no more will be produced,” continued our source. “There are 400,000 allocated for the whole of the European territory. After that there will be no more. It was confirmed to me that Microsoft has no plans to manufacture the original Xbox once the new console hits the market.”

However, Microsoft has indicated to key retailers that it plans to having around a million Xbox 360 hardware units available in time for Christmas of 2005, as reported by MCV last week and recently confirmed to SPOnG.

Microsoft’s official line on the matter is that the Xbox supply situation will improve, offering a six week wait-and-see window to retailers. Some cynics may argue that six weeks brings the welcome distraction of a 360-powered E3 show in Los Angeles. The Windows giant also claimed that manufacture of the original Xbox unit continues, although this end-of-cycle production run is likely to comprise the two million figure offered by our source today.

We will bring you updates on this story if anything changes.

Too early for April's Fools? Discuss!

[LOL]

From Spong.com

That's where I stopped reading.

[Zerodash]

Makes sense, but only if X360 is backwards-compatible.

[Yoshi]

Does anyone know how manufacturing has been handled by the industry leaders? I know Sony kept making PSOnes after the PS2 was released. I think I remember Nintendo making SNES systems well into the N64 era as well. Somehow removing an entry-level option from the consumer market doesn't seem overly smart. On the other hand, creating false shortages of a new system never made sense either.

[Mikhal]

I think with PSOnes and stuff, the prices to manufacture actually gets lowered so they can turn a nice profit when they continue on selling them. If every XBOX purchased still makes MS lose money at this point, I can see why they're doing this. Wonder how much it costs to manufacture an XBOX now...

[RedCoKid]

Whoa... Dreamcast:The Sequel. Glad I wasn't on board that sinking ship.



j/k

[voltz]

Whoa... Dreamcast:The Sequel. Glad I wasn't on board that sinking ship.



j/k

why I outta...

I think with PSOnes and stuff, the prices to manufacture actually gets lowered so they can turn a nice profit when they continue on selling them. If every XBOX purchased still makes MS lose money at this point, I can see why they're doing this. Wonder how much it costs to manufacture an XBOX now...

How are they gonna sell the leftover systems when they don't give shelf space for them? I know they can jusf afford to give them away and avoid taking a hit in profits.

So what is this gonna do for new games at the end of the cycle, they gonna remove those too?

[Wildkat]

Im sick and tired of this "MS loosing money on evey xbox" crap.

Its a Mobo, a 733mhz processor, 64 Megs ram, a sub 10 gig HD, a shitty cheap DVD rom, and a generations old Nvida chipset


If the thing costs more than $75 to build at the level MS is doing, I would be shocked.

[Eight One]

Come on....how could we not expect this?

Not a big loss at this point, anyway.

[K3V]

Does anyone know how manufacturing has been handled by the industry leaders? I know Sony kept making PSOnes after the PS2 was released. I think I remember Nintendo making SNES systems well into the N64 era as well. Somehow removing an entry-level option from the consumer market doesn't seem overly smart. On the other hand, creating false shortages of a new system never made sense either.

The trend seems to be to redesign the console, stripping it down a bit to make production costs cheaper. See the 2600jr, Intellivision II, NES Top Loader, SNES 2, PSone, PStwo, etc. MS may be gearing up for a simlar release.