Only 0.2% of PS3s are faulty according to Sony

by Colin Torretta { Aug 15th 2007 at 4:45PM }

Much has been made about the X360's hardware failure rate (which Microsoft won't release hard numbers on) and the accompanying lawsuits/warranty extensions, so it's been interesting how few stories we've heard about PlayStation 3s dying. Turns out the reason we haven't heard about widespread PS3 hardware issues is because, well, there aren't any.

Speaking with Spong at this week's Edinburgh Interactive Festival, Chris Deering, the founder of SCEE mentioned that the failure rate for the PlayStation 3 is a teeny-tiny 0.2%. Industry standard for hardware failure rates on consoles has historically been 3-5%, so the PS3's fantastically low failure rate really showcases how well Sony designed the system. Old Ken may have been crazy, but he was one hell of an engineer.

[Via N4G]

Tags: failurerate, ps3

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

shase @ Aug 15th 2007 4:58PM

It is great news but not being biased - all these "blu ray need", "low failure rates" news don't really move sales and that is the bottom line.

Maestro @ Aug 15th 2007 9:26PM

And only 0.3% are being used for playing games.
(an no, folding@home is not a game)
Flame-on!

Darkdrium777 @ Aug 15th 2007 5:02PM

That's like 2 consoles for every thousand. :o

Andy @ Aug 15th 2007 5:10PM

Sony's Playstation 3 is engineered really well except for one thing. The screws on the HDD cover a cheap and strip.

Also I think it could be lower than 0.2%. They just can't say its 0%, this is why Lysol kills 99.9% of germs not 100%.

Stef Geiger @ Aug 15th 2007 5:13PM

It's probably worth pointing out that the lower failure rate of the PS3 relative to say, the 360 means that Sony's $250 per console loss isn't that bad. See, with the 360, since the failure rate is apparently around 30%, that means that for every console sold, it costs Microsoft 1.3 times the cost of a single console, since they have to replace 30% of the those that sell. Sony, however, only loses 1.002 times the manufacturing cost of a PS3 per customer. I'm sure Sony's still losing more money than Microsoft, but I wonder how much of a financial blessing their well-put-together console is.

Supino @ Aug 15th 2007 5:28PM

Good news.

But we must give it a little time to be sure. I like my PS3 a lot, though PSN is seldom updated here in europe..

Hardware quality aside - it needs games that show us, that it in fact, has horsepower. (killzone)

JL @ Aug 15th 2007 5:36PM

@andy - Haha I remember a post that you wrote saying you stripped the screws. I didnt strip them but yeah, they were shitty.

kingofwale @ Aug 15th 2007 5:43PM

regardless how much Sony losses per console, at least they are able to deliver a quality product.

it's not like Microsoft's making a profit on xbox, with the new 1+ billion dollars warranty program, I really doublt they will ever gain a net profit in the entire lifespan of this gen console.

mAK @ Aug 15th 2007 6:16PM

And this is what happens when you launch your product when it's ready, not rushing to market and catching the holiday $$$.

Microsoft lost this generation, the day they decided to rush the 360 out early. The relability and design shortcuts will haunt the console for the rest of this generation.

Carlo @ Aug 15th 2007 6:07PM

The real reason why the PlayStation 3 hasnt died on everyone yet is because it has an Energizer inside.

LETS GO BUNNY!!

never$$hort @ Aug 15th 2007 6:28PM

I find it funny how much every topic that concerns the video game media gets repeated over and over again... and of course they are followed up with the same, re-used, stale debates and lame arguments time and time again... Wake me when something exciting happens, ZZZZzzzzz....

And I agree with you 100% #9 mAK...

never$$hort @ Aug 15th 2007 6:28PM

ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......

Bozzie @ Aug 15th 2007 6:31PM

Tell ya what though with ever reducing manufacturing costs, i wouldn't be suprised if sony are, or are near making profit on there consoles. There releasing new models, and now manufacturing is up to quantity, i can forsee if sony have a good year next year they will definetly break even.

Although this may seem a while, the lifespan of this console is expected to be 7-10 years, and breaking even means covering your initial development costs. Bet they were alot!

Jay Are @ Aug 15th 2007 6:32PM

Sony may be losing money on every PS3 sold but the PS2 is still the #1 system in the world. it has outsold more than the xbox 360 since the 360 launched (that means since November 2005 ps2 sold more than xbox 360)

BTW i am finally makin some progress in Castlevania: SOTN

chasegamez @ Aug 15th 2007 8:08PM

thats greattttttttttt!!!!
ps3 rules

ClarkyCat @ Aug 15th 2007 6:53PM

Being in that 0.2% makes me feel all warm and fuzzy :]

Justin @ Aug 15th 2007 7:05PM

clarky cat...how did your ps3 break?

Justin @ Aug 15th 2007 7:05PM

clarky cat...how did your ps3 break?

Pieman523 @ Aug 15th 2007 7:14PM

to bad it still has no games

Byron517 @ Aug 15th 2007 7:16PM

That's just good quality enginering PERIOD!! I'd rather make a good product that is going to withstand punishment then rush some garbage to have it break on me to only have to send it back once or twice in a year COME ON!!

Matt B @ Aug 15th 2007 7:22PM

My games run awesome Pieman. I have 5 and 2 of them are multiplat.

You should try them. They actually are fun.

BTW, what are going to say after the next few months? Or in the tired "No games" just going to stick?

plyx @ Aug 15th 2007 7:27PM

I'm a 0.2%'er, too. My problem was really strange. My PS3 would completely shutdown when playing THP8 or COD3(both made by Activision, coincidentally.) By completely shutdown I mean I had no standby light or anything. Sony hooked me up with what I would be willing to bet is a brand new replacement and I've had no problems ever since.

andy604 @ Aug 15th 2007 7:42PM

yea right more like the ps3 just doesn't have enough good games to have the majority of it's owners keep it turned on long enough to identify issues such as overheating and who knows what else.

EDGE @ Aug 15th 2007 7:54PM

@21

I and others have my ps3 on for hours on end, watching movies and playing games. Silent and hitch free, not as noisy as a train, scratching discs, and rrod'ing.

The PS3 is a sturdy piece of hardware, seriously, don't let the inferior quality of your precious 360 make you all bitter and angry inside.

The Truth @ Aug 15th 2007 8:17PM

"Microsoft lost this generation, the day they decided to rush the 360 out early. The relability and design shortcuts will haunt the console for the rest of this generation."

Ha ha ha. Another fortune teller. That's great. Of course Sony didn't rush to the market last gen with faulty hardware and win over consumers, did they?? No. Oh well. My power house 360 elite will surely get some love when BioShock comes out next week. What's the movie of the week on PS3 anyways?? =)

Don @ Aug 15th 2007 8:44PM

@24

It's 300, where the hell have you been?

Consolcwby @ Aug 15th 2007 9:26PM

=o

My PS3 has been running really great - I usually keep it on 3 - 4 days non-stop. I have it set up to automatically run folding@home while it's idle and I'm at work. When I come home for my break or after work, I just exit out of folding and then go play one of my five games. I've never had any problems with it yet! (And I went through 3 PS2's since it launched, so I can feel for 360 owners. =S It sucks waiting for your machine to get back from the ole shoppe!)

=) I love my PS3! (=

JKPierce @ Aug 15th 2007 9:20PM

That's a compelling argument. And by compelling I mean retarded.

Not only did you actually, genuinely admit you purchased a Xbox 360 'Elite,' you compare last generation's mistakes and project; it's okay, it happened that way seven years ago.

SolidsS @ Aug 15th 2007 9:26PM

@24 youll be playing your bioshock....

but wait oops its gonna be another four years b4 you beat the game

plyx @ Aug 15th 2007 10:27PM

I still can't figure out why Xbox fanboys feel compelled to visit a site called ps3fanboy.

BlackBeltJones @ Aug 15th 2007 11:04PM

I've had one 360 and one ps3 break on me. The 360 lasted a year and a half and the ps3 lasted 4 days.

Andro @ Aug 15th 2007 11:19PM

I had my new PS3 fail after only 10 days. So, I too am in that 0.2% Sony customer service had a brand new PS3 in my hands after only 10 days. I can't really complain because Sony stepped up and resolved the issue quickly.

Don @ Aug 15th 2007 11:28PM

@32

Do you believe that to be ironic? If what you say is true, that my friend is a fluke, it doesn't change the fact that the 360 is much much more likely to break on someone than a PS3 is. MicroSoft has even admitted that there is a problem with their console and that they aren't sure what it is yet. They may never get it fixed, hence the extended warranty that will set them back a billion dollars. Whether your a fanboy of either system, you can't deny the FACT that the 360 has a much higher failure ratio than the PS3, and that's an understatement.

Don @ Aug 15th 2007 11:29PM

I'm sorry, my comment was direct @ #31, not #32. My bad.

BlackBeltJones @ Aug 15th 2007 11:56PM

@ 34
I didn't deny anything, those are just the facts.

flameofdoom666 @ Aug 16th 2007 1:24AM

.02% is very impressive. That is all that needs to be said on the matter.

WTangoFoxtrot @ Aug 16th 2007 3:00AM

yea its a good figure. i wish my 360 was engineered like the PS3,
really wish i could leave it on 24x7 and not worry about it
overheating. its never crashed on me or anything but thats because
ive had to take too much care of it.still its the games im concerned
with. considering the excellent design behind the cooling for the
PS3, what do you guys think would be the result if Sony collaborated
with MS and designed a cooling system for the 360 ? keep in mind they
are both corporations after money so its not so far-fetched even.....

why not the LS2/LS7? @ Aug 16th 2007 4:08AM

Mine broke. More accurately, it was never really right to begin with. It would lock up occasionally playing videos and give weird errors at times in Resistance. I kinda lived with it for a while until I discovered it consistently couldn't play the Transformers trailer. So I called Sony and had to play a bit of hardball, and they swapped it. I called on a Thursday, they had the coffin (HUGE coffin) to me on Monday, I took it back to UPS that very day where it was there in time for the day's overnight delivery (it was prepaid for overnight by Sony). They said it would be two weeks, but I had my replacement Thursday, by 3 day select. They must have shipped the new one out before receiving my old one or something.

1 week turnaround time. This is FAR better than the 1 month (only because I called daily to get them to ship a coffin) turnaround time when my 360 died.

Many other friends have PS3s and none have had problems. This is unlike 360, where many of my friends have had to replace theirs. So I think the PS3 is more reliable.

But regardless, it's not a great idea to lean on this stuff, Sony. I like the machine, I watch lots of movies and play the few games I have. But it's really time to turn the focus from the hardware (and its reliability) to the software and get some games out there.

And I don't mean Lair. It's not good (I already played it). I still have great hopes for later this fall though.

Thanks Sony for allowing developers to support 3rd party peripherals, I'll be buying DiRT on PS3 on Sept 4th, because I can use it with my G25, whereas on 360 I'd have to use the awful MS wireless racing wheel (which I have, but is terrible). But please work harder on day-and-date releases, you can't count on all your customers being willing to wait an extra 5 weeks to buy games on your platform instead of 360.

vanxman @ Aug 26th 2007 5:08PM

"4. See, with the 360, since the failure rate is apparently around 30%, that means that for every console sold, it costs Microsoft 1.3 times the cost of a single console, since they have to replace 30% of the those that sell."

Erm, the charge was for 100% of currently sold consoles. They EXPECT EVERY BLOODY SINGLE ONE to fail at some point due to bad design...

alcameleon @ Aug 16th 2007 5:10AM

My PS3 was one of the faulty ones, it died exactly 2 months from launch day. Sony got a replacement to me in less than 24hrs of it dying which is awesome service! Only problem was that a game was stuck in there and they took 12 weeks to return it, which is shit service!

ClarkyCat @ Aug 16th 2007 6:01AM

@15/16

Well it didn't break as such, it wasn't right to begin with. Attempting to connect to the internet, wired or wirelessly just resulted in a little grey error bubble in the top right of the screen. So absolutely no network access meant no online gaming, patches, PS Store, no browser, no friends and no updates, which in turn meant I couldn't play any PS2 games on it. Yay for Europe. Oh and another odd thing wrong with it, Pro Duo sticks wouldn't fit in :S
I bought the console on launch day, March 23rd, brought it back that same day and got a replacement, as it wasn't selling much, unsurprisinly. Mine was the only one they got back at least! So the statistic is probably true.
Although this makes me 2 for 2. I got a PS2 on launch day as well, it died after 2 days. And in that case, I had to wait over a MONTH to get a new one. Bad reflection on Sony and on the demand for the PS3.

IstillplayPS2 @ Aug 16th 2007 6:25AM

Probably the reason why the failure is 0.2% is because not as many people have bought the PS3 as they did for other consoles. Hence, with a smaller sample size, numbers now are further away from what the eventual percentages will be.

Nuge32 @ Aug 16th 2007 9:05AM

Haha I had a friend who had his 360 on a milk crate, with a fan blowing on it, with his own little jimmy rigged filters to help stop dust from getting in the intake and all that jazz. I used to laugh at him because i was like man theres no way that shit could break like that. Well it did, 3 times in prob 8 months. My ps3 is tucked next to the hd tv and all covered with stuff... still running spectacular, and you 360 fanboys, it is in fact on, and i do infact play videogames...now just get the fuck off the forms so we can have civilized discussions. with out the same retarded no games comment. Say that shit in a in the next month or two...just try and say it.

Nuge32 @ Aug 16th 2007 9:06AM

yeah there are mistakes in grammar and spelling, i just woke up...sue me

Andy @ Aug 16th 2007 10:29AM

@37

I have been dreaming of Sony and Microsoft making a console together. With the rising costs to make consoles they could both bring some good to the table.

coplice @ Aug 16th 2007 10:38AM

@41
even with less console sold, its a % and not a number of console, more console sold would mean mroe defect, the number change, but the % wouldnt

0.2% of 4.5 million is 9000 defect consoles
if it was 30% like 360 it would be 1350000 defects
you think thats big? 360 sold 3 time mores, thats as much defectives 360 as PS3 sold

cool, my console wont break but... i need games! lol
i cant play 2142.. but i will be able to play warhawk in 2 weeks! yay

James @ Aug 16th 2007 3:33PM

Just a point on the warranty, Microsoft didn't lose $1 billion, or spend $1 billion for the broken consoles. They set aside $1 billion, for the cost of repairs, if needed. They may not even come close to spending that, only time will tell.

DjDATZ @ Aug 16th 2007 3:52PM

As a Xbox 360 owner, I'm pleased to say Congrats to Sony on this number. It's quite the achievement. (no pun intended) I've had 3 360s fail on me, but 2 were after extensive abuse. Even more abuse than my 5 PS2s had to endure. Yes, my consoles get constant and unrelenting abuse.

My first 360 kept getting lugged from my residence to my house and back, which is about 2 hours of travel each way. It lasted about 8 months, with CONSTANTLY being on, pretty much 24/7, when it wasn't in transport, and I'd say 75% of the time it had a disc spinning in it. It finally faultered in May 2006. It took them 4 business days to get me a replacement. (From calling Thursday evening, to the coffin arriving Friday morning, to me dropping it off at a Purolator drop-off Friday late afternoon, to them receiving it Monday morning, shipping out a replacement that afternoon, and the replacement being at my door Tuesday morning. Best experience I've had short of with my PS2s where I had to drive over an hour, get it replaced, and drive back home for an hour, which was faster but more tedious.)

My 2nd one, faultered on me this past June, over a year after I got my replacement. This time it was the same error that plagued my 5 PS2s: disc reading errors. So I sent it in and got my replacement within 7 business days. (Called in the 18th of june, coffin arrived then 19th, 19th dropped the coffin off, xbox recieved and registered at shop on the 20th, shipped back to me on the 26th, and received by me on the 27th.)

My replacement, has obviously been a lime since I got it. Its been freezing up since I got it, and I figured it was only a matter of time till it died. So, August 2nd it died. Coffin was shipped on the !7th!, and then i recieved it on the 8th. Dropped the coffin off on the 9th, and it was recieved on the 10th (Friday). It was entered into their system on the 13th (Monday) and right now I'm waiting for it back. I have a feeling this is taking longer now because of all the people that have sent in their consoles due to the recent warranty extension.

Notably, I haven't paid a penny for service or shipping. I did however get a free 1 month of live with my previous service. And I'll get another one free now. I personally, don't mind, cuz that is adequate compensation to keep me satisfied.

I don't regret purchasing a 360 nor would trade my almost 2 years of gaming on it for anything. Nor would I trade this holiday lineup for that of the PS3. Not bashing PS3's line-up, cuz there are some games I'd like to play (Heavenly sword is one) but the 360's line-up is just suited to me more.

My 10 cents.