Playstation is 30% cheaper with production in Brazil

After years of expectations, Sony today announced that it will manufacture in Brazil the PlayStation 3 video game console. The production will be made in the company's unit in the free zone of Manaus, where are already made products such as TVs and stereos. It will be the first console manufacturing unit outside China and Japan. With local production, the price of the PlayStation 3 will have a reduction of 30%, $ 1,599 to $ 1,099. The equipment made in Brazil will arrive in stores in the next few days. The company does not reveal how much was invested in the initiative.
In October last year Sony introduced a bill of $ 50 million for the production of video games in the pole of Manaus. At the time, it was not specified which model would be produced in the country. Sony has in its product line three consoles: the PlayStation 3 and the PSP and PS portable Vita. According to Jack Tretton, Chief Executive of Sony Computer Association Americas (SCEA), the company's unit that responds by PlayStation business in the Mainland, the idea is to bring to Brazil the production of all consoles, but still there is no plan for that.
According to the Executive, the local production of the Playstation 3 will inject $ 300 million into the Brazilian economy over the next 12 months between direct investments from Sony, its partners and sales of games and consoles. "Last year the PlayStation 3 sales in Brazil grew by 168%. We hope that with the manufacturing site we can maintain a growth of 120% for a few years, "said to. The estimate is that the console has sold about 300 thousand units in the country last year. According to the Executive, the factory of Manaus will meet the demand of Brazil and, eventually, you can also supply other countries in South America. "Brazil is the most important market in the region, and can be one of the world's most important for Sony in mature markets video game sales are stagnant," he said. The beginning of local manufacturing will be the subject of a marketing campaign $ 10 million to promote the PlayStation in Brazil.
Despite having entered the video game market in 1994 with the launch of the first PlayStation, Sony just happened to sell the official way in Brazil in 2009.
Sales of games and consoles in Brazil reached r $ 1.65 billion in 2012, an increase of 60% compared with 2011. The accelerated expansion came from the games, whose sales increased 72% and totaled r $ 650 million. In terms of units, the games segment virtually doubled, to 6.1 million. Sales of consoles have grown 54% in terms of revenue, to $ 1 billion and 19% in terms of units, to 1.1 million. The numbers are from the market research firm GfK.
The start of production of PlayStation 3 in Brazil happens when Sony prepares the launch of successor to the console. The PlayStation 4 was presented in February and the expectation is that sales are initiated before Christmas. According to Tretton the arrival of the new generation does not mean that the PlayStation 3 has come to an end of its life cycle. "The PlayStation 2 has been on the market for 12 years and was a huge success. I believe that the PlayStaion 3 [in 2006] is halfway yet, "he said. For the Brazil Tretton may appear among the first lists-or even in the first-of countries to receive the PlayStation 4. "We have to see how the global demand for the device," he said.