China’s recent decision of temporarily suspending the 14 year old ban on foreign gaming consoles may have delighted Chinese gamers and international console vendors, but the announcement definitely had a visible impact on Nintendo as its stock prices soared by as much as 7.5 percent on Monday.
The temporary uplifting of the ban will have a positive impact on Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo and will open up a huge gaming market with an estimated value of $14 billion.
Sony and Microsoft are already having a time of their life as far as console sales are concerned with the former shipping over 4.2 million units in 2013, while the latter managed to ship out over 3 million units during the same time. However, Nintendo Wii U sales have failed to impress and the repealing of the ban seems to be the catalyst that investors were looking for.
“Nintendo hasn’t had a catalyst for a long time, so if it can revive [via] the Chinese consumer market then it would be positive,” said a Tokyo-based trader in Reuters report. Nintendo on the other hand is uncertain on the opportunities that the walled country presents following the uplifting of the ban.
Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo might not have a simple task at hand for the fact that the games will still have to go past the strict rules of the cultural authorities in China. Further, the local console market has grown over the years and the gaming giants will have to rethink their pricing strategy if they want to stand a chance against the locals.
