PS5 will launch in China in the second quarter of 2021

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) will launch PlayStation 5 in China in the second quarter of 2021.

The launch plans were announced in the video below by SIE Shanghai president Tatsuo Eguchi and vice chairman Soeda Takehito.

PS5 was originally approved for sale in China in December 2020, according to Daniel Ahmad, a senior analyst at market research firm Niko Partners.

“The version launching during Q2 2021 will be the official Mainland China version,” he said. “It will likely have an online services region lock at launch.

“Currently, players in China are importing consoles from overseas markets such as Japan and the US.”

Sony has said it hopes to ship over 14.8 million PS5s during its next fiscal year but that it could struggle to hit the goal due to challenges caused by the global semiconductor shortage.

It’s unclear how many units Sony intends to ship for PS5s launch in China, where consoles are considered relatively niche.

Nintendo and local partner Tencent launched Switch in China in December 2019. As of January 2021, one million Switch units had been shipped, although Niko Partners estimates that around four million Switch consoles have been sold in China in total, when also taking into account illegal grey market sales.

That compares favourably to both PS4 (3.52m) and Xbox One (1.24m), according to Niko’s data.

Further reading

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Sony wants to sell over 14.8 million PS5s next fiscal year but ‘faces difficulties’

Company discusses challenges caused by the global semiconductor shortage

PS5 launched in November 2020 in the US, Europe, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea.

Following “unprecedented” consumer demand for PS5, Sony claimed that the platform recorded “the biggest console launch of all-time”.

PS5 also launched in Indonesia in January and in India in February.