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Everything you need to know this week about the games market in Asia
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Every week, our analysts review dozens of news sources, from multiple countries, in multiple languages. From this, we give you the stories that are most important, and the analysis to tell you why.
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MOL Global's IPO
MOL Global had its initial public offering (NASDAQ: MOLG) on October 9th, and raised $169 million. MOL is the largest e-payment provider in SE Asia, covering 13 countries and 920,000 physical sales spots in 4 continents. It is the largest e-payment service provider in SEA's games industry, and a vast number of SEA gamers use MOL Point Cards to purchase online game content. The online game portal is MOL Wallet. The IPO was unsuccessful in that it dropped 35% in the first day of trading, which was the worst first-day of trading in 10 years. However, the company is quite significant in the SEA games space.
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Sony's PS4 Plans for China
Sony plans to launch the PS4 in mainland China in December, with some statements indicating the first year sales estimate to be 200,000 units. This will bring competition to Xbox One, though both brands are operated by the same parent company in China. The key to success for either product will be the availability of high quality games at the "right price." So far, the Xbox One is having trouble with game titles, for example Forza Motorsport 5 sells for RMB 239 (US $40) but can also be found on Android TV boxes or smartphones for free, so gamers are opting for the free versions.
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Alibaba Expands to Rural Areas
Growth in China is in the Tier 3 and 4 cities - and Alibaba knows it. Alibaba launched an RMB 10 billion rural expansion plan to extend services to county and villages throughout China. They aim to establish 1,000 county-level operating centers and 100,000 village-level service stations. Taobao has seen rural consumers grow from 7.11% of total users in Q2 2012 to 9.11% in Q1 2014.
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Southeast Asia Expansions
SEA is hot: MOL had an IPO on NASDAQ, Bandai Namco Games opened an office in Kuala Lumpur, and Gamevil (mobile publisher) opened an office in Singapore. Watch for Niko's 5th annual report on this growing region comprised of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, to be published in November.
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ABOUT NIKO
Niko News is just one part of the strategy and expertise offered by Niko Partners to help our clients better understand and successfully navigate the thriving games markets of China and Southeast Asia.
Niko Partners is the leading provider of market intelligence, custom research, and consulting services focused on the games industries in China and Southeast Asia. Since 2003 we have provided critical information to the world's leading game publishers, developers, hardware makers, and game service providers as well as to government policymakers, trade associations, and institutional investors.
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