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Forums - Sales Discussion - VitaTV - Sony goes after China

Yesterday's announcement makes perfect sense. The PS3 and PS4 are both too expensive for developing markets. The PS2 is too outdated. Markets like China need a sub 100$ home entertainment system with online functionality that matches smartphones. If Sony executes this properly, VitaTV could capture that market segment and make some serious money.

With that said, there are some major drawbacks:

a) Expensive memory cards

Since Sony seems hell bent on avoiding SD cards, the only thing left for them to do is drop the price of the proprietary memory cards to comparable levels. I doubt they will however.

b) Controller input inconsistency

VitaTV's greatest weakness is that it derives from a massively stupid design, the PSVita. Who the hell needs 2 touchscreens? Why on earth would you make a portable with fewer buttons than the DS3? This inconsistency will create confusion and I wait to see if Sony will manage to handle this properly. One solution would be for VitaTV + DS3 controls to become the lead platform for developers, and that is what I suspect.

If the Japanese electronics giant manages to address those issues above, VitaTV could become a huge success worldwide, perhaps even dwarf the PS4 in sales. In capitalism, price makes all the difference in the world. An ultra low cost home entertainment platform that comes with all the modern online/social functionality and bears the Playstation branding could have a massive impact in developing markets and beyond. With that said, I keep my reservations on whether Sony will manage to communicate their message properly to the markets.

What do you guys think?



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No. Just because something costs $99 it doesn't mean it's a product aimed for emerging markets.

Apple TV too costs $99. But did you ever percieve it as a device for low-income families?

Also you forgot to mention that typical Vita games cost $30-40. How attractive is that in a Chinese market that is used to FTP games?



People from China is poor, they can't afford a VITA TV nor a PSV game, end of the story.



AIUI, chinese aren't too fond of Japan. Also it's well within China's capacity to flood the market with cheap local consoles.



There will be 3-4 knock-offs in the marketplace in China before Sony can ship them to the retailers there. The funny part will be that they will be 30-40% cheaper and have better features - even if they lack in production quality.



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If marketed right it could become a huge success. Another sign that Sony is starting to recover!



i thought consoles were sort of banned in china,.. do we know that sony can even sell them in china?



wrong



kitler53 said:
i thought consoles were sort of banned in china,.. do we know that sony can even sell them in china?


That is true, but the ban has recently been lifted. Sony's timing in this speaks volumes.



landguy1 said:
There will be 3-4 knock-offs in the marketplace in China before Sony can ship them to the retailers there. The funny part will be that they will be 30-40% cheaper and have better features - even if they lack in production quality.


Chinese knock offs won't have Fifa & Call of Duty though. What I am afraid is that Sony won't be smart enough to include basic features like MKV playback, which is one of the primary reasons people buy such set top boxes.