So it’s here already: the Economic Times reports that Sony’s Playstation 3 is already available in Indian grey markets, around a week after its launch in Japan, and just days after its US launch. The first lot arrived at Delhi’s Palika Bazaar over the weekend, and the 20GB version is priced at about $1115 (Rs.50,000) as opposed to $499 for the same. Games, such as the Ridge Racer are priced at Rs.3,500 (around $80). What’s interesting is that a Sony India official told the Economic Times that the PS3 will be launched in India in March 2007.
Of course, since this is early days the pricing will be over the top. I wonder what they did with those piles of xBox 360’s at Palika Bazaar. A March launch might help curtail losses to piracy, but with a 37.1 percent duty (that’s what Microsoft had to pay extra for importing the xBox 360), it’s still going to be pretty steep at around Rs.30,000 for the 20GB and around Rs.37,000 for the 60GB version (depending on the exchange rate). The PS3 isn’t available yet on eBay.in, though.
Related:
- Microsoft Launches Xbox360 In India