Shanzai beats Sony to the punch with PSP Go

0 Trackbacks (Pingbacks are enabled)

Comments Posted on Sep 18, 2009 Posted by Yellow Tiger

Sony PSP Go UNITE PSP Go

The smaller, sliding screened PSP Go might have been unveiled at this year’s E3 show, but it looks like this slightly larger sized shanzhai version has beat it to market. All of which raises the question: Is it still copying if you’re first?

If anything, it shows just how fast the turn-around time is for these Shanzhai manufacturers dealing in tiny batch numbers.

Word has it that this latest Sony PSP will be released on 1st Oct 2009 in North America and Europe, and slightly later in Japan at a price of USD299. However, almost a full month before this release, Shanzhai vendor, UNITE, launched their PSP Go clone in the China market for about a third of the price.

Remarkably similar in design apart from the 4.3” screen compared to Sony’s 3.8” display, the UNITE version is basically an MP4 player with some game functionality.

Western Opportunity Analysis:

As with all close copies, this would need modification in order to pass legal inspection in the West, but once again the Shanzhai guys have proved that they’ve got their finger on the pulse when it comes to quickly turning out popular CE devices.

PSP vs. PSP Go

Conclusions:

Like most Shanzhai devices, this first iteration lacks a lot of the functionality of the original Sony device, but if history is any guide, version 2.0 is only a month or so around the corner and will likely be sporting much better software integration. Stay tuned.

Tags: