Nintendo of America have confirmed that they will no longer distribute their products in Brazil, indicating “challenges in the local business environment” as their reasoning.
Products imported from outside Brazil are subjected to extremely high tariffs, most recently seeing Sony’s PlayStation 4 retail for $1,800 – a steep climb compared to the $400 price point available in the United States. Their exit is therefore an understandable one, although they will continue to work in the Latin America region with Juegos de Video Latinoamérica.
“In response to ongoing developments in the Brazilian market, Nintendo of America Inc. today announced changes to the physical distribution of its products in that country,” Nintendo of America’s statement began.
“Starting in January 2015, Gaming do Brasil, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Juegos de Video Latinoamérica, GmbH, will no longer distribute Nintendo products in Brazil. Gaming do Brasil has distributed Nintendo products in the country for the past four years. Despite the changes in Brazil, Juegos de Video Latinoamérica will continue to be Nintendo’s distributor for Latin America and they remain committed to the brand and the region.
“Brazil is an important market for Nintendo and home to many passionate fans, but unfortunately, challenges in the local business environment have made our current distribution model in the country unsustainable. These challenges include high import duties that apply to our sector and our decision not to have a local manufacturing operation. We will continue to monitor the evolution of the business environment and evaluate how best to serve our Brazilian fans in the future.”
Nintendo exit Brazilian market due to “unsustainable” distribution model
