Mforma opens shop in Shanghai

Mforma Group, one of the largest international publishers and distributors of mobile entertainment, announced today that it has fortified its presence in China by establishing a subsidiary in Shanghai. Mforma China will join Mforma Americas, Mforma Europe, and Mforma Korea as part of Mforma Group's global network of distributors. The new office, which will also have facilities in Beijing, is intended to extend the company's leverage in China's exploding wireless services market--which some analysts have predicted will grow to half a billion subscribers by 2008.

"We are prepared to take full advantage of the enormous wireless market and demand for wireless content in China," said Daniel Kranzler, Mforma CEO. "We have established a local Chinese corporation with local management and personnel and are obtaining direct distribution licenses in China, authorizing us to distribute content throughout the entire country through all mobile operators and portals. Our desire has been to establish a strong, local, in-country presence as the best way to understand and meet the needs of wireless operators and subscribers in China."

Although Mforma has had a presence in China for over a year, they have until now dealt through local partnerships to get their games to Chinese consumers. Mforma China will serve as a translating and localization facility for international games coming to the Chinese market and will also provide a local base to provide content directly to major Chinese operators like China Unicom and China Mobile--a valuable commodity in a country noted for its restrictive, mildly xenophobic business environment.

The stakes in the Chinese mobile market are potentially huge: A recent forecast from ARC director of research and senior consultant Rupert Reid indicates that revenues from mobile gaming in China will crack $1 billion in just four years. However, many questions concerning the viability of the market remain: the rate at which Chinese consumers will purchase media-capable handsets is still unclear, as is the effect of lax intellectual property rights enforcement.