360 Shortages Blamed on Faulty Chips

According to a report filed by the San Jose Mercury News, a new reason has surfaced as to why there is such a shortage of the Xbox 360’s: a lackThe of chips. The 360 has about 1,700 parts, and of those 1,700, there is one specific part that has to be right; the GDDR3 chip, which must rate at at least 700mhz for installation in the console. According to inside sources, some of the chips were clocking in at a slower speed. A slower chip would prevent the needed accessing of vital information, and this would lead to a slowdown of the Xbox 360. The slow chips were rejected. While no one is 100% sure that the chip shortage is the reason behind the scarcity of 360s, Nam Kim, an analyst from market research firm iSuppli, offered his observation by saying, "I was concerned even before they released the Xbox 360 that they wouldn’t get enough supply. This was a very aggressive plan by Microsoft. To me, it was risky to go ahead. If there is a shortage of these chips, it could very well cause a shortage of the Xbox 360." Regardless of the reasons for the lack of Xbox 360s, it is becoming alarmingly evident that as more time goes away, so does the fervor of owning a 360. Microsoft is hoping that they™re not too late in stopping the slide of interest in their machine. Peter Moore, game division chief at Microsoft, said that most people would be able to get their hands on a Xbox 360 in four to six weeks time. But if early indications are any sign of what is going on in the consumer™s mind, a recent trip to some large department stores may give a hint as to the Xbox 360™s popularity. Some stores are beginning to discount their prices for 360 controllers and accessories and that can™t be good.