Introduction

J Allard the person at Microsoft, loved gaming, in 1998 he was chosen to jump start Microsoft into the gaming console market. The gaming community demanded more memory, a better graphic chip, an ethernet port, 733 MHz processor. But microsoft being a software company, didn't know who would take on the job. They had consulted Dell, Gateway and Compaq, but they did not agree with Allard's decisions. By this time Flextronics was making Microsoft joysticks and keyboards. Allard later decided that Flextronics would be the company that would be able to build such a console. He gathered Intel(graphic chips) and Flextronics, who consulted in each decision. Flextronics talked to Intel,Western Digital(hard drives), and Micron(memory), and other companies that supplied plastic and screws. Flextronics manufactured in China, Brazil, and Mexico, this meant that they could cut down on labor; minimum wage in mexico was from $3-$4.

The actaully making of the Xbox

The future of Microsoft has changed since the year 2000 due to the building of an Xbox. It all happened in Mexico north of Guadalajara , at Parque Integral de Technologia, owned by a company called Flextronics. The thought of an Xbox was just an idea, Microsoft had a ton of money, but if they were to build hardware factories it would be risky. Mark, the chair of Flextronics influenced big companies to give them the dirty and save money. Through this, Flextronics grew from 93 million in revenues in 1993 to about15 billion in 2000. Some companies Mark dealt with, were forced to close down their manufacturing plants, which is good news for Flextronics since they would earn more money. Flextronics operates 80 factories in 23 countires around the world, they make cellphones for Ericsson, routers for Cisco, printers for Hewlett-Packard, and PDA's.

Months before they had the project of building an Xbox flextronics was an empty building, now they have an assembly line with materials in one end and an Xbox at the other end. The Playstation 2 was suppose to be marketed before the Xbox, but because of silicon problem they had to delay the Playstation 2. Nintendo also was suppose to market their new console called the Gamecube, but the company delayed the product until the end of November. This left Microsoft to market their Xbox before the PS2 and the Gamecube. The reason why flextronics had no problems with materials was that they supplied most of the parts of the Xbox. Which meant that they didn't need to wait for suppliers. When the Xbox came out it was sold for $449.00 on November 15, 2001. By March 29, 2004 the Xbox was sold for $199.00

My Opinion

In my opinion i don't think that Microsoft would have been involved in the gaming industry if it wasn't for Flextronics. Microsoft would just be a software industry, but now they have become a billion(s) dollar worth company, having around 40 billion dollars in revenues in 2006. For me I would still consider Sony better than microsoft when it comes to making consoles because sony has better graphics and faster response rate.

Where i got the information:

wired magazine, 2001

http://www.howstuffworks.com/xbox.htm

http://www.betanews.com/article/Microsoft_Revenue_Up_Profit_Down_24/1153429026 

Inside an Xbox 360

Inside an Xbox

Map of Guadalajara in Mexico