360 slim transitioning to matte finish

[RudeCurve]

Apple has made glossy clear plastic computers for years...

Anyway there's no proof that matte is "cheaper".....LEGOs are made of glossy plastic. BTW I believe glossy plastic comes from the texture of the die/mold as well as the chemical make-up of the plastic.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I'd bet matte is cheaper, just because you wouldn't need to buff it.

Injection moudling takes exactly the quality of the mould. It's like pressing Bluetack against a window, and then pealing it off - it's smooth and shiny. Drinks bottles are gloss and they have the same mould surface contact as injection moulding. Perhaps matte allows a cheaper, less plastic plastic that doesn't have such a tight interface with the mould, and so remains a little rough (hence matte)? The difference really should be pennies and not much of a deciding factor. But consolidating two cases to one, and with perhaps a focus-group showing little preference, and with perhaps the matte option being a few cents cheaper per box, given a choice between the two they picked matte as the better overall option.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Injection moudling takes exactly the quality of the mould. It's like pressing Bluetack against a window, and then pealing it off - it's smooth and shiny. Drinks bottles are gloss and they have the same mould surface contact as injection moulding. Perhaps matte allows a cheaper, less plastic plastic that doesn't have such a tight interface with the mould, and so remains a little rough (hence matte)? The difference really should be pennies and not much of a deciding factor. But consolidating two cases to one, and with perhaps a focus-group showing little preference, and with perhaps the matte option being a few cents cheaper per box, given a choice between the two they picked matte as the better overall option.

I was never suggesting the value difference was significant only that it probably favored matte. And my theory is they would need more effort wiping them after handling/assembly, not because of the actual molding of the plastic itself. (or do they perhaps just put a sheet of that clear vinyl on them which would nullify that, I'm pretty sure my matte launch day didn't have one, but that was 6 years ago... )

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I was never suggesting the value difference was significant only that it probably favored matte. And my theory is they would need more effort wiping them after handling/assembly...

Don't they typically wear gloves, or use robots that hold the parts with vaccuum? I don't believe there's any wipe-down or buffing or any sort. It's just pressed plastic. Could be wrong though.

 

[Squilliam]

It'd also make it cheaper and easier to transition to a new case design if for instance they move to say a slot loading HDD with internal PSU and put the memory chips on package. In this case they would only have to modify a matte design.

 

[Rotmm]

I don't believe so. I can't imagine it being more than pennies if it adds any cost at all. Nothing involving simple plastics moulding costs significant amounts, and they're hardly likely to be spraying an expensive lacquer on these boxes!

Even if it's saving pennies, when looking at mass manufacturing any saving is important. And that, along with the inherent savings in only producing a single type of case, could be reason enough.... especially if MS are looking at making some kind of price cut this year.

The way I look at it, if there were no savings in doing it, why would MS bother at all?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

There might not be any financial savings in choosing matte over gloss, but MS had to make one choice to simplify things. If so, it may be other factors beyond price affected this choice.