A Lenovo subsidiary has launched its first home entertainment console, skirting round a Chinese ban on gaming equipment by marketing it as a family exercise device.
The move puts Lenovo in direct competition with Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft to capture share in the unofficial Chinese console market. The device, developed by a Lenovo subsidiary called Eedoo, has been plagued by delays but went on sale in China this week for Rmb3799 ($604), nearly twice as much as the going rate for Microsoft’s Xbox Kinect.
China has more gamers than any other country, but a decade-old ban on gaming consoles has meant that the most popular machines, like the Xbox, have never been launched officially there. They are readily available for sale on the grey market but must first be smuggled in.