Sony enters the Chinese market for consoles

Sony partners with a Chinese company to produce its consoles in the free zone of Shanghai. In the long term, the group put on local designers to develop games specifically for this market.

The free economic zone of Shanghai is it becoming the Silicon Valley of China video game. After ZTE and Microsoft, it's time for Sony to invest in the console market in China, according to the Wall Street Journal. Beijing has cleared after ten years of prohibition, selling gaming systems in its territory. If the importation  foreign equipment remains prohibited consoles manufactured in the free zone may be sold to Chinese players.

This forces the electronics giants to reform their economic model and invest in Chinese companies located there. Thus, Sony is partnering with Oriental Pearl, a Shanghai-based company specializing in the entertainment industry. Sony and Oriental Pearl have plans to set up two subsidiaries, one responsible for producing the consoles and the other dedicated to video games and services. Sony will be a minority shareholder in one, but will own 70% stake.

The goal for the CEO of Sony, Kazuo Hirai, is to "reproduce the Chinese market success that [Sony] PlayStation familiar with elsewhere in the world." Indeed, the PS4 has sold 7 million copies since its release in late 2013. During the same period, two months after the opening of the free zone of Shanghai, the president of Japanese electronics giant issued the desire to see the Sony consoles stamped landing in the Chinese market as soon as possible.