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Sony Pushing For Latin America Dominance
Sony has detailed its strategy to tap into the lucrative Latin America market.
The company is launching the PS2, PSP and PS3 systems across thirteen countries in the region, and will establish a localised Playstation Network in the area. The firm will also introduce a localised website providing news and information services.
Sony’s press release did not state which of Latin America's regions had been selected, though back in November, SCEA’s vice president of sales Ian Jackson outlined Sony’s plans on the matter.
He said that Phase one releases would encompass Chile, Argentina, Colombia, and Peru. Phase two would include Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama and Venezuela. Phase three would target Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil.
Speaking then at BMO Capital Markets Interactive Entertainment Conference, Jackson added that “the significance of the Latin America market is huge. Obviously from a population standpoint I don’t think it’s a big secret that this is a huge opportunity. We will put a number of resources in place to cater to that market.”
“Just based on the sheer size of [Latin America],” he added, “the number of countries there and the size of the population, long-term it has a very good opportunity to be bigger for SCEA than the Canadian market was.”
At the time Jackson stated that Sony’s launch into phase three would be established by Spring 2009, though it is unclear if the new statement from Sony is referring to this. The news release implies the launch is already occurring, though there was no explicit mentioning of dates.
Latin America has attained a reputation for being a "piracy hot-bed", Edge Blog writer Pascal Clarysse addressed the issue in his 'Gaming in Latin America' post, which you can read here.
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There is a UNIVERSE around the PS2 in LATINOAMERICA right NOW.
This theme is a bad joke for us in LA(not you,ROB).
SONY and NINTENDO NEVER WAS HERE when we needed theirs services, but NOW they need us to make money!!!?
THEY ARE MAKING MONEY ALREADY, without a simple dollar expended, we buy consoles, games, etc from e-BAY, parents in Europa, brothers in USA... for millions!!!
Every container or plane or bag carries a console or a game or a peripheral.
Need more?, ...mochips is an industry in all theirs terms, repairing and inventing fixes and tricks to extend the consoles lifes is a profession...
PIRACY??? ... NO CHOICE FOR US, DAMNIT !!! we`v never seen an "OFFICIAL LAUNCH DAY" for NOTHING from the videogames companies!!!
We download games before theirs launch days from servers feeded by "FIRST WORLD PIRATES"...
NO REPAIRING PARTS, NO LASER LENS, NO OFFICIAL SERVICE, NOTHING!!!
GAMESTOP?, i prefer the cancer before paying that prices.
This situation is a direct consecuence of the despective politics from the videogames companies. One way ticket, guys.
OFFICIAL STORE = SHUT UP AND PAY
PC games is the future in LATINOAMERICA, they are cheap and easy to obtain(theme for another post). EVERY HOME IS GETTING A PC RIGHT NOW, and trying to sell theirs consoles to buy a good PC.
CONSOLES ?? every one have a PS or PS2 or GAMEBOY or a NINTENDO(old hardware)
Just some few guys have a PS3 or PSP or DS or Wii, no support no confidence.
PRICES:
PS2- 250 DOLLARS
PS3- 750/1000 DOLLARS
Nobody say nothing about downgrade the consoles prices...!!!
OH YEAH!!! we are a great deal !!!
SALUDOS!!!
There is a lot of piracy in South America due to the ridiculous prices.
A PS3 in Argentina is around 750€. And the medium salary there is 350€/month. And there is no hacked version of the PS3. (prices are not higher for that reason)
Microsoft is dumb for not releasing the Xbox 360 in this market.
Latin America is a market where the PS2 is obviously going to do a lot better than the PS3 because of the low cost of PS2 and the high cost of PS3.
But Xbox 360 is a system that offers gaming performance superior to the PS3, but at a price that is actually competitive with the PS2 (with the Arcade version).
I think Microsoft is messing up and missing an opportunity to dominate another market.
Oh Kim!
TBH, I'm not sure that this is the best place for the X360:
1 - It's generally HOT in South America - not good for the 360's design and lifespan
2- Piracy is rampant, and the 360 has been hacked - M$ would have to price the console higher to take the piracy hit without staying in the red.
3 - Broadband penetration - South America's broadband infrastructure is generally not great. Although this would help increase demand for its improvement, they may need to ring-fence SA's XBL to avoid ruining NA and EU's general online gaming experience. It's also another bill where piracy is rampant, so modded console owners wont be connecting to LIVE.
"I think Microsoft is messing up"
Wow Kim, your first (half) reasonable sentence ever.
360 Performance 'superior to PS3'? Nobody mention RROD! LOL
“Just based on the sheer size of [Latin America], the number of countries there and the size of the population, long-term it has a very good opportunity to be bigger for SCEA than the Canadian market was.”
A whole continent provides a bigger opportunity then a single country does? No wonder he's the vice president of sales. His grasp of the obvious is astounding.
Hey, don't ridiculize him. Canada is a 1st world country, there is more market than half South America.
And if I may add; There is more market in China than the whole Australia.
The name of the country is COLOMBIA not columbia. Columbia is the name of the film company, and Bristish Columbia is a region in the canada. Sorry to sound so patrinising but, Its a very common error.
Since the holydays ive seen the Sony Systems at Sony's Stores, wich is good, but the price is still to hight for the region. Now, we know that Sony can't play much with the PS3 price, but if they want real penetration they should with PS2 and PSP. And this also goes with the games, taking into account that LA really is a "piracy hot-bed".
I'm still waiting for the latin PSN too, at least there's a mention on it today. And BTW, what if i want to keep my actual user (with trophies and games) and transfer it to a Latin PSN account?.