Xbox shortfall
More next gen console woes
Microsoft have admitted that they may not reach their target of having 600,000 Xboxes ready for the American launch of the console on November 8th. According to a report in the Financial Times today, a Microsoft spokesman confessed that "we won't know day-one quantities until we reach peak production". Some people have estimated that as few as 300,000 Xboxes may be finished by the beginning of November, although that's largely guesswork at this point. But it's certainly worrying that just six weeks from the console's launch they still haven't got production up to speed at the Flextronics factories in Mexico and Hungary which are assembling the Xbox.
Microsoft aren't alone in having problems though. Nintendo had 10% less GameCubes ready for their Japanese debut than they had been promising, but weak sales meant that over a third of the consoles that they did ship are still sitting on store shelves. The Japanese company has also delayed the Cube's American launch by almost two weeks to ensure they have enough ready to meet demand. This console manufacturing lark is harder than it looks...