The Red Ring of Death

A major product made by Microsoft is their video game console, Xbox 360. Xbox 360 is a high powered, state of the art console that offers some of the most realistic and easy to play video games ever imagined. However, Microsoft's Xbox 360 has a major flaw that has caused an outrage amongst it's consumers. The "Red Ring of Death", a named coined on internet blogs, is a condition in which the Xbox user ring on the console turns red randomly upon turning the console on, and ceases to work from that point on. As a result, consumers must send in their Xbox 360 for repair and wait anywhere from 2 to 3 weeks for a new console, or the same console with repairs to return to them ready to use. I personally am in the process of receiving my second Xbox 360 in the matter of 2 months, as I experienced the Red Ring of Death with my own console, and then with the second replacement console that was sent to me. The process is long and frustrating, as customer support representatives are required to do everything in their power to instruct consumers to troubleshoot and identify the problem. However, Microsoft has finally allowed for a packaging slip to be printed off of their site, in order to skip the process of speaking to representatives on the phone. This online process is a good idea for Microsoft, as most Xbox 360 users are computer literate and able to do this easily. Also, most people who get the Red Ring at this point are aware of what it is, and will be frustrated with the fact that they have it, thus, it would not even be necessary to explain to them what needs to be done over the phone. This express service for users who experience the Red Ring is one good way that Microsoft has dealt with the Red Ring.

Microsoft has not done a good job of communicating messages and explaining what the Red Ring is. One could do extensive research on the internet or through magazines, and only find speculation of vague terms regarding what causes the Red Ring. From the research, one can figure out what the red ring means through this a simple chart. Most of the codes that the red ring offers, show fixable problems on the Xbox, other than the one code that states that there is a general hardware problem on the xbox, and this is the problem that requires consumers to send the product back to Microsoft for repair. Microsofts overall method regarding this problem has been to remain quiet, and fix the individual Xbox's as fast as possible while returing the product to consumers as fast as possible. Very little has been said about prevention, appology or reason for the problem. The one thing that Microsoft did, was extend the warrant on their customer's Xbox 360's from 1 year to 3 years for people who have experienced the Red Ring malfunction of their product. This proved to be a great success for Microsoft as they have had many instances in where conspiracy theories have been created suggesting that they created Xbox 360 so that it will break down after 1 year, requiring their customers to pay more money to the company, and increasing their profits. If Microsoft had done nothing to respond to this accusation, it would prove devestating to the companies reputation. By extending the warranty, there can be no speculation that Microsoft made Xbox with the intention of its failure, because Microsoft is not making profits off of people's broken Xbox's anymore, but rather taking a loss by fixing them for free.

MS Investor Relations

The Microsoft annual report was done in a very professional manner for 2008, that was extremely business oriented, and attacked all of the issues and questions that shareholders may have had regarding the current status and future of the business. The company's letter to its shareholders was profound and announced important strategic moves that Microsoft has planned to make, and had made over the course of the year. Microsoft uses its annual report very professionally and presents the numbers clearly and thoroughly, including more than enough data for shareholders to gauge the success of the company that they hold stake in. The shareholder letter stresses transformation through innovation and ensures that Microsoft is ahead of the pack and innovating in order to expand business and continue to make profitable products. Also, it writes about emerging opportunities and markets, which stress the growing markets and opportunities that Microsoft has ahead of them for the future. They next stress supporting communities and diversity where they talk about their involvements with minority and women focused organizations. Lastly, they comment on strong leadership focused on the future, in which they refer to their top executives, what they've done, and where they plan to bring the company. Overall the shareholder letter is well done by Microsoft.

In a press release regarding Microsoft reporting their First-Quarter results, the mood was optimistic although the Profit fell 18%, and with this loss, Microsoft was still able to exceed the expectations on Wall Street. The overall message of the News Release and articles following it are that Windows 7 is ready to launch and will boost the company drastically, in spite of a slight but circumstantially acceptable loss. A quote from Chris Lidell, the chief financial officer at Microsoft said "We are very pleased with out performance this quarter and particularly by the strong consumer demand for Windows." This quote, although plain, is extremely professional and optimistic and could not provide anything but confidence from upper management to the stakeholders of the company. Perhaps Microsoft could loosen up their words once in a while a sound a bit more friendly, but Microsoft has a very professional and business oriented reputation and culture, and continue to stand by the precedent. This is why Microsoft's annual report, news release and letter are all top notch in regards to a fortune 500 companies expectations.