Niko News readers: it is possible that somehow this information regarding the iSec's launch date and price was channeled directly to the blogger "ugmbbc", and discovered by Penn-Olson for a series of recent blog posts, but the information is not listed on the eeDoo's website, nor are there mentions of it in other Chinese press articles. The blogger writes that the price for an iSec will be 3000 RMB ($470), and there will be a limited launch in December. At the risk of being proven uninformed, we at Niko think that price point makes no sense and a launch date of December will be premature. In September Lisa Hanson had a one-on-one lunch meeting with a senior MOC official who is tasked with the standards for game consoles. He made it clear that the standards had not yet been set. It is possible that eeDoo will launch iSec without games (ie, without the need for standards), but that too would be quite strange. We also vividly remember Shanda's failed EZ Station several years ago, which launched as a game and entertainment device at $800 per unit. Didn't last long on the market, that is for sure.   

Blizzard Entertainment has switched online game partners in Southeast Asia. The company had previously licensed the distribution of its popular games to IAH Games, and this recent news of October 19th indicates a switch to Asiasoft, which will operate in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. Asiasoft has the largest footprint in SEA, having opened operations in Indonesia earlier this year and with a small presence in Vietnam as well. Blizzard has historically operated the servers for its games in SEA from the US, and the deals in SEA typically are for distribution and marketing arrangements only. World of Warcraft is known as a "very expensive" game for many Southeast Asian gamers, who tend to spend as little as possible on online games. On the other hand, there are plenty of hard-core loyal WoW and SCII gamers in SEA.   

China is a total goldmine for Apple, particularly with iPad and iPhone sales. The company recently announced that sales in China are up 270% year-over-year, and for the fiscal year totaled $13 billion (up from $3 billion in the prior FY.) Niko Partners is well aware of the popularity of Apple products in China, based on our September 2011 smartphone survey as well as our gamers surveys from the past 12 months. The appetite for Apple mobile devices is a leading driver for the adoption and growth of mobile games for smartphones and tablets in China (and beyond.)