Sony Coy on Chinese Plans

Hiroshi Shoda, chairman of Sony (China) Ltd. has confirmed that the company is not planning to bring forward the release of a PlayStation console in China, despite Nintendo’s well publicised entry into the market, with its new iQue console. Talking to Dow Jones Newswires Shoda stated that, “We don't care what the other companies are doing...we are moving on our own schedule” Shoda did suggest that the company may be close to announcing a date for releasing a console in China, but did not elaborate further. The launch of Nintendo’s iQue will be the first major attempt at launching a game console in China, which is infamous for rampant piracy and for failing to enforce the intellectual property rights of Western companies.