The long awaited Sony Playstation 4 hit shelves on 15 November in North America and has already racked up over one million sales in its first 24 hours.
As Sony begins to roll out its state-of-the-art next generation of gaming technology around the world, Indian gaming aficionados are clamoring for their turn.
Early news reports from Atindriya Bose, the Country Manager of Sony Computer Entertainment in India indicated that the Playstation 4's India release would be alongside the European release, reaching the country by 29 November. However, these plans now seemed to have changed, with no new news coming from Sony, and speculation of a January 2014 release date circulating within the Indian gaming community.
The Playstation 4 is currently retailing in America at $399. Getty Images
Citing concerns over inventory and deployment logistics along with fluctuating Rupee exchange rates when setting a sale price, Sony is withholding any confirmed information regarding the official launch as Indian consumers grow impatient with the delay.
Firstpost spoke with dealers in prominent grey market locations such as the Heera Panna Mall in Haji Ali Mumbai and Palika Bazaar, in CP Delhi to no avail, as even grey market retailers are not willing to commit or give any assurances of availability. This vacuum has reportedly led to fraudulent offerings at online websites such as OLX and Quickr where postings of second hand Playstation 4 consoles have already sprung up.
The only recognized seller of the Playstation 4 in India has been online retailer Snapdeal who is committed to making it available by December. The console device is available on the website for Rs 40,000 with a pre-order advance payment of Rs.1,999 that would be adjusted against the total cost. The online retailer is also offering multiple EMI options to make the deal more alluring for impatient consumers.
Similarly, another online retailer Game4U also has a pre-order deal for the Playstation at Rs 3,000 but does not specify a final price for the device.
Claiming that the advance payment is purely reservation for the product, the retailer doesn't guarantee any final pricing and also states that buyers risk forfeiting the advance payment if the full (yet unknown) price isn't paid within seven days of release.
The Playstation 4 is currently retailing in America at $399 (Rs 24,917) so the Rs 40,000 offer price seems to be a ridiculous markup. But in the face of barren supply it isn't surprising that some retailers are attempting to make a killing off the demand from a niche and die hard gamer consumer base.
Many keen shoppers were hoping that the competitive battle between Microsoft and Sony in the game console wars would lead to lower prices in India but it seems that this will not be the case.
Recent announcements by key Microsoft officials Anshu Mor, Director Interactive Entertainment Business for Microsoft India who revealed on Twitter that India isn't on the 21 countries on Xbox's launch list and Alan Bowman, VP Sales and Marketing of Asia who said that a more likely launch is in late 2014 have surely led Sony to feel safe regarding any risk to its Indian market share.
And as the delay in Sony's release mounts and the lack of alternatives becomes all the more apparent, many cautious shoppers may choose the Playstation 4 in the interim – at whatever the cost – from whatever the source.
via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHgZjW7zF1L4ZyhHd0CnDZNL93kxA&url=http://www.firstpost.com/tech/sonys-playstation-4-is-out-but-when-will-it-come-to-india-1236463.html
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