The "Red Ring of Death" proved to be a billion-dollar mistake for Microsoft, but Microsoft's Entertainment And Devices Group boss Robbie Bach says defects have had little impact on Xbox 360's image with consumers.
Bach said in an interview with Venture Beat that Microsoft actively tracked Xbox 360 brand damage following the company's billion-dollar write-off related to the console's "RROD" defect.
"The amazing part of that whole situation is that when we look at brand preference, customer satisfaction, willingness to recommend, none of that data has moved through that whole process," he said. "The number-one complaint I get from people is that it is taking you too long to fix the console."
Bach said that fans who have gone through two or three defective Xbox 360 consoles only to remain loyal to the brand are representative of the "power of the product offering and service we provide."
Bach continued, "In the ordinary course of something like this, you would expect it to show up in the customer reaction data. We just haven’t seen that.
" It speaks to the fact that they love their games and Xbox Live. Does it frustrate them? Yes. On the other hand, they know we’re taking care of them. People have a certain amount of respect for that.
"If it had happened on a product that had less baseline customer satisfaction, it would have had a bigger impact. We really haven’t seen that."
The extensive interview also had Bach addressing competition.
When asked to respond to Sony CEO Howard Stringer's recent comment that the PlayStation 3 is no longer on "life support," Bach said, " If not being on life support is the metric for success, then I guess they’re successful.
"...Four or five years ago, most people would have said three console makers could not be successful. That’s the likely outcome now."