Lenovo jumps into the motion controller market.

AUG. 27, 2010 • The motion control spotlight has been on the PlayStation Move and Microsoft Kinect. But by next spring there will be another motion control introduction, the eBox in China. A controller-less, web cam system like the Kinect, eBox has been developed by Beijing eedoo Technology Ltd., a spin-off from the Lenovo Group. Expected to be priced between a Wii and an Xbox 360 Arcade, Beijing eedoo Technology has identified a potential market of 120 million urban consumers in China. Around 30 free games will be included with each eBox purchase.

Impact: In 2000 China announced some form of ban on video game console systems.  However, there is a great deal of confusion over what that ban means.  The official line is to protect adolescence from the harmful impact of games.  Nevertheless, homegrown online games run rampant in China and there is a large grey and black market for console games.  Obviously the stated goal of keeping consumers away from games has not worked.  DFC believes much of the restrictions are more to keep foreign companies from dominating the China market.  Thus it is important to note that the eBox is from a domestic company.  While we have not yet seen the eBox upclose, it not only bears a striking similarity in name to the Xbox brand it looks like it is going right after the Kinect.   This is at a time when Microsoft is trying to get the Xbox 360 cleared for official release in China.