Failing PS4 Consoles "Within Expectations," Says Sony

[colson79]

That's nothing. When the xbox 360 was released the red ring of death failure rate was reported over 30%

 

[game junky]

Don't know if I am exceedingly lucky, but I have purchased a large number of devices over the years at launch and have yet to get a lemon. My first Xbox 360 red ringed after 2 years but Microsoft replaced it and I haven't had to replace any other product due to a defect. Doesn't surprise me that Sony pushed them out without enough QA, I am hopeful Microsoft learned their lesson from the RROD and will keep my streak alive.

 

[rwinches]

First we are dealing with John Q Public here so making an assumption that all these claims are all actual failures is jumping the gun.
Second TV's are a lot more complex than just a short while ago.
Third we are dealing with John Q Public here.

Having read the ridiculous incredulous negative reviews in general on Amazon I am positive much of this is pilot error. The main thing wrong is that even if they get good service or have a replacement on the way they or the get their refund they give the 1 star rating. Remember that most satisfied buyers don't leave a review or rating, so when I read where people say they look at the percent of negative reviews and if it's over a certain amount they don't buy a brand, again John Q Public.

I would have a lot more sympathy if these were units just opened on a holiday.

Of course this does not rule out there being DOAs or a bigger hidden problem, with 1,000,000 units and counting I am sure we will know soon enough.

 

[billgatez]

The failure rate for the PS4 is low, well within the norm. It's just that bad news is all any one talks about with these consoles.

 

[Neverdyne]

0.4% failure in a new production line is perfectly acceptable, and is the reason why companies have a return policy. People here saying it's unacceptable really don't know much about manufacturing. Everything, from the iPad to the Nokia phones have a production line failure rate.

 

[oj88]

Instead of blaming TV compatibility, Sony should have consulted motherboard BIOS engineers to make PS4 more compatible to different devices, and easier to diagnose.

 

[s997863]

"Or you might have to wait 2 weeks for a replacement if it fails?
A wait of 6 months is just stupid. Another 6 months and there will be an even better product available. "

No the guy waiting 6 months is just being sensible. Wait for them to actually release good games and read their reviews first. Wait for a price drop. "Stupid" is buying something now on faith & future expectations.

Hyped people rush to preorder without reviews or a lineup of games and then wonder why big companies are so greedy? They'll take whatever you give. You pay them 10$ for each PS3 game you want to run on PS4, and they'll never bother with backwards compatibility again. Why should they spend more money to include hardware in their PS2 to run PS1 games for free when the customers are bored/rich/desperate/foolish enough to pay 10$ per PS3 game to run on PS4?

 

[bochica]

This is totally unacceptable. I don't care if its 4% or .004%; IMHO shelling out 500 bones for a system only to find out that its basically bricked out of the box is BS!

They sold over a million consoles in 24 hours. There is never going to be a production unit with a 0% error rate when it is first released. There is always going to be a bad egg(s) in a batch(es).

At my job, we had just bought 30 refurbished, fairly new, Dell units at $800 a piece (I know, "Ew! Dell," but corporate will only approve Dell's now), and within 1 week we had 1 unit with a failed hard drive. Did we expect that? Yes, that is why we ordered a couple extra (didn't need all 30). It happens, no matter how much money you shell out on a mass produced product.

Sure you may buy one console, or one PC for the home, but out of millions produced, there will always be a lemon unit here and there. Whether you get that unit, or your best friend Jim, it happens. Sony's expected .4% rate covers 4,000 units. Not much to worry about if they can easily sell a few million more in the lifespan of the console.

 

[bochica]

Instead of blaming TV compatibility, Sony should have consulted motherboard BIOS engineers to make PS4 more compatible to different devices, and easier to diagnose.

With TV's now having Firmware updates, HDMI specs being improved, and many other factors, that maybe easier said than done without having a "public production unit test." Running into compatibility issues with the release shows where they need to work instead of blindly chasing paths that may not even help the issue.

 

[natoco]

My ps1 died 13 months old so no warranty, my ps2 died 13 months old so no warranty. Went through 3 ps2's with 1 covered. I was playing them nearly every day mind you or movies. That run broke my launch day purchases forever with every electronic devices released.. Waited 4 years before i bought a ps3 and its still going strong That to me was the proof in the pudding so to speak. In no way am i saying don't buy a ps4, but you need to be realistic and it will make the future versions that much better for the rest of us that know better

 

[makaveli316]

So many ignorant people here.... Every product on the market comes with defective units, no matter if it's Sony, Apple or Samsung. 0.4% is ridiculously low. Even 2-3% is low, considering they sold a million.

 

[Sakkura]

.4% is very acceptable. Anyone who has issues with this shouldn't buy electronics in general, otherwise it's awfully hypocritical of you. Also this BBDDoDDoBBDoD stuff is ridiculous.

It's not acceptable at all. Industry standards are >.5% failure rate over the first year of a product. They are at .4% in the first week...

No, because the .4% figure is their expectation. And all they've said is that failure rates are in line with expectations. That doesn't mean they were expecting .4% failure rate over a period of several years and got .4% at launch.

 

[Peacelol]

Not my idea of how console gaming should be. It's a world away from the N64
days of just turn on and start playing. Ditto the PS2 for the most part (still my
current 'console'; for newer games I have a PC).

However, given the current new gen choice, I'd still get the PS4 for various
reasons, but I wouldn't buy on day 1, not given the way this tech is released
now, with issues such as this that need to be sorted. As someone earlier
said, let them iron out the initial bugs, then buy.

Ian.

Keep in mind though that back when the N64 was around, social media was no where what is today. There were very minimal news outlets to refer to and obtain additional information, let alone any ability to see widespread reports of potential problems through customer reviews.

Right now the PS4 is the hottest new product on the market and all eyes on are it and the soon to be released Xbox One. Any of the most minor problems will go widespread within hours. Take for example iPhones; Apple expects a certain level of product manufacture error to occur during every release. This level of expectations greatly exceeds the numbers currently being reported concerning the PS4. The reality is that while a new product released may be more prone to faults, every product released to market suffers problems in small numbers. That's why there are warranties or return policies in place afterall. Right now the spotlight is shining on Sony.

Anyone with experience in building their own at home PC realizes this situation. Doesn't matter how long something has been out, it still can be DOA or be defective. From design & engineering --> manufacturing --> shipping --> retail distribution, anything can go wrong during that process at any time.

The best thing to look for right now is how retailers or Sony are dealing with the issue and how they're treating their customers to ensure the highest level of consumer satisfaction.

 

[rokit]

Lol 0.4? This is nothing. X360 anyone? And what about other tech like mobile phones? Its nightmare infact with numbers around 20% for some companies yet noone thinks about it when buying new phone.
This is just MS tries to look more positive even though the fail rate is minimal, X360 was rumored and confirmed by MS themselves to be beyond 30% in the first year, they didn't tell the exact numbers though just like Sony said officially that its smaller than 1%

 

[Jarmo]

Maybe it's 04 out of every 100 and the marketing is just unsure of how percentages are calculated,.

 

[back_by_demand]

4000 per million, that's 0.4%

 

[mobrocket]

@natoco

what in the hell are u doing to your consoles...

 

[tomc100]

Since it's using AMD apu I'll bet the problem has to do with ventilation and cooling.

 

[gggplaya]

0.4% is acceptable. In electronics, when crap is being made in China to workers in harsh crowded condition for less than $1 an hour. This is to be expected, they are told to churn out units to meet target goals.. Anything less than 2% failure is normal for electronics.

 

[hragarand]

Let's assume the failure rate is expected at .04%, then you plan for a .06% failure rate and you maintain an inventory of 6,000 pre-tested units for every 1,000,000 units sold. You establish a rapid reponse team so that when a unit fails you have one point of contact for the customer, you establish a 24-hour or less replacement process, and you collect all BAD units in one location for analysis, and you compensate that customer some value for their trouble. That's how you delight a customer, not just satisfy. I would rather have customer tout how the company handle the problem rather than the problem.

 

[hragarand]

Let's assume the failure rate is expected at .04%, then you plan for a .06% failure rate and you maintain an inventory of 6,000 pre-tested units for every 1,000,000 units sold. You establish a rapid reponse team so that when a unit fails you have one point of contact for the customer, you establish a 24-hour or less replacement process, and you collect all BAD units in one location for analysis, and you compensate that customer some value for their trouble. That's how you delight a customer, not just satisfy. I would rather have customer tout how the company handle the problem rather than the problem.

 

[Kewlx25]

0.4% DOA rate is quite good. Most computer hardware is in the 2%-3% range, so we're talking about a few factors better.

 

[MKBL]

0.4% is acceptable. In electronics, when crap is being made in China to workers in harsh crowded condition for less than $1 an hour. This is to be expected, they are told to churn out units to meet target goals.. Anything less than 2% failure is normal for electronics.

The problem is that Sony seems not prepared for handling such "expected" failure rate. If it is really within expectation, why is their response so draggy, as it seems? With such massive launch and expected failure in first week, they should have more staffs on hotline, gotten emergency response ready, and issued more organized PR. Sony didn't do none of them, and that's why I suspect a lie. Probably it's within expectation if the failure level reached that level for the first month. They might have staffed the customer service for that level, within .5% spread for a month. If they really expected .4% failure in 3 days, and did nothing to respond, it's pathetic.

 

[Raheel Hasan]

From X360 i have learnt a lesson, never buy the launch model of the console

 

[nhat11]

I doubt its .04. I'm surprise it's not 1% or even 2%.