Although anecdotal evidence would seem to suggest otherwise, Microsoft continues to refute the notion that there is something inherently defective in the design of its Xbox 360 console. Most recently, pictures were discovered that seemed to show new heat sinks in the console. At the time, Microsoft simply said that "updating console components is commonplace," but the company would not confirm the presence of the new cooling components.

Nevertheless, in a new interview with the San Jose Mercury News, Todd Holmdahl, Microsoft's corporate vice president of Gaming and Xbox Products Group, evaded questions about the return rate for Xbox 360. When asked about the oft quoted 3 to 5 percent figure, he said, "We don't disclose the actual number." Instead, he said that the anecdotal evidence is from a "vocal minority," seemingly suggesting that everyone is blowing these problems out of proportion.

He added, "We're very proud of the box. We think the vast majority of people are having just a great experience. You look at the number of games they are buying, the number of accessories they are buying, the Live attach. They love the box. They continue to buy the box. That said, we take any customer issue very seriously. We continue to look into these things very deeply. You have seen we have made some changes to our customer service policy."

When columnist Dean Takahashi continued to press Holmdahl on the subject, he got similar evasive responses. Takahashi asked Holmdahl about the yields during production and what percentage of the yields were good versus the number that were defective, but Holmdahl answered, "We don't talk about our production... The important thing here is that each product that comes out of the factory is rigorously tested. To ensure highest quality for our customer."

Finally, when asked in business terms if a high defect rate would hurt the company's bottom line, Holmdahl flat out denied that there's any problem. "I would say we don't have a high defect rate," he said. "The vast majority of people are really excited about their product, and that we are targeting profitability for next year."