Microsoft Corp has delayed the launch of its Xbox One game console in China, which had been set for release tomorrow, but the world’s biggest software company said it would be released by the end of the year.
The delay is the latest in a series of setbacks for Microsoft in China, where it is under investigation for suspected anti-trust violations related to the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office.
The Chinese government lifted a 2000 ban on gaming consoles earlier this year.
Microsoft had reached a deal with Chinese internet TV set-top box maker BesTV New Media Co Ltd (博達克諮詢) to form a joint venture to manufacture the consoles in Shanghai’s Free-trade Zone a year ago.
The Xbox One console will cost 3,699 yuan (US$602) without the Kinect motion detection system and 4,299 yuan with Kinect, Microsoft said in July.
China is the world’s third-biggest gaming market, where revenues grew by more than a third from 2012 to nearly US$14 billion last year.
However, piracy and the dominance of PC and mobile gaming may leave little room for legitimate console and game sales.
In May, Sony Corp said it would set up a joint venture with Shanghai Oriental Pearl Group Co (東方明珠) to bring the PlayStation games console to China.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
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