Among the Blu-ray Disc highlights of last year was the Singulus Blu-ray Day in Germany, and D2D was on the spot to find out more.
Last year proved to be a good year for Germany-based Singulus Technologies, the industry’s leading supplier of end-to-end systems for pre-recorded and recordable disc production. So good that the company wanted to share the enthusiasm and arranged a Blu-ray Day at its headquarters in Hanau.
“It could have been seen as something of a risk setting up such an event in the high season and a challenging optical disc market environment,” Sylvia Hitzel, VP Sales & Marketing, admitted. However, as it turned out, the list of attendees – customers, suppliers, and partners – doubled from the initial estimates of about 60 and there were over 120 people on the day.
SUCCESS AND STRATEGY
Before the event kicked off, Hitzel and company CEO Dr Stephan Rinck took time out to talk strategy and successes with D2D. “We always said we were going to sell between 40 and 50 Blu-ray machines in 2011,” said Rinck. “That’s what we targeted for and we reached that target. So that’s very positive for us and we are also very positive for 2012.”
Not only did the sales figures meet the higher end of expectations, added Hitzel, the selling season was relatively steady, without the usual peaks and troughs. “We have our high season, so by the end of September the shipments normally drop, but the demand continued with companies who were looking to buy for delivery the following year.”
While the focus, not unnaturally, was on Blu-ray, the other physical media formats still provide business for the company. “Our customer service business is a significant business for us,” Hitzel points out. “There are replicators who may never go into Blu-ray production, but they have CD and DVD equipment and they will be in business for as long as there is a disc market. So they need our customer service, spare parts, and technical advice.”
Just as Blu-ray is the majority of the optical media business, said Rinck, so optical media is the majority of the company’s business overall. “We are active in three different areas: optical media (which is still 65% of our turnover), solar and semi-conductor. The other two are growing; they are growing, they are part of our future and we are investing heavily to get those business areas stronger.”
That is the extent of the company’s diversification for now, however, said Rinck. “Part of our success has been focus: Singulus became the industry leader in the optical media sector after starting 15 years ago as number 40. That was down to being focused in one area.
“Now, however, it’s time to look at other areas but we will be careful not to lose our focus.” In fact, even the move into solar is not so much diversification as expansion of technology: interestingly, there is some overlap. “We also get some of our customers in the optical disc moving into the solar. There are definite synergies: for instance, they are both vacuum-coating coded technologies that need cleanroom atmospheres. So solar is definitely a part of our future, but optical is still the majority and we will keep it that way for years to come.”
FACTS AND FIGURES
Moving into the day’s agenda, the company’s executives provided a review of the market and outlook for 2012, and were joined by various industry experts. Rinck opened the proceedings with a formal welcome, promising a day of in-depth market information, a tour of the facility, and a sociable dinner in the evening.
Hitzel took over as the ‘master of ceremonies’ for the day. She returned to the themes she and Rinck had visited in the pre-event interview: “A company the size of Singulus needs outside business but we are still dedicated to the optical media industry,” she said, providing an overview of the company’s history from the 1995 management buy-out and establishment of Singulus Technologies in 1996.
Highlights included the introduction of DVD replication systems in 1997 and recordable disc equipment in 1998, followed in the 2001-2003 period by the acquisition of moulding and mastering technology to enable the company to support the entire disc manufacturing process. The company entered the Blu-ray sector early on, in 2005, and hasn’t looked back since, now represented relatively equally in the three main regions of the Americas, Europe and Australasia.
“There is a positive outlook for Blu-ray in the coming years,” she summed up. “As the last man standing Singulus is committed to the sales and service of lines around the globe. We will not disappear.”
Singulus customer Sven Deutschmann of arvato provided a companion piece to survival in a challenging marketplace: where Singulus had achieved success by followed its technology expertise, bringing customers with it into other areas such as solar, arvato was following its customers. “Blu-ray is growing, but not enough to make up for the declining CD and DVD figures; just as it makes sense for Singulus to move into the solar business, it makes sense for us to follow our customers who are moving into digital.”
Jim Bottoms of Futuresource Consulting provided a Blu-ray status report, which was a call to the industry not to give up on Blu-ray. He commented that “2011 was a milestone year to forget – all predictions were thrown out”, and agreed with Deutschmann that Blu-ray is a growing market, albeit not along the lines of DVD in its early days. One positive sign, however, is that more independent content owners are entering the sector.
Blu-ray will be an important driver for 3D and UltraViolet, he added, but in the case of UltraViolet, “The message is very confused as consumers are still coming to terms with digital copy. It will take a lot of work and a big industry initiative,” he stressed, concluding with a strong message: “It will impact industry for many years to come if we give up on Blu-ray. There will never be another packaged media format and disc revenues for studios are still significant.”
Doug Franzen of the Colonial Purchasing Group also provided a message of co-operation that was necessary for an industry to survive challenging times. He outlined how purchasing power gave members better margins on their products, and offering rebate benefits. The co-operative now numbers nearly 40 members across the sectors of duplication, replication, authoring, mastering and more, he pointed out. “We're all in the same business with the same issues and we’re all looking for solutions. Since 2005 we have distributed five million dollars in rebates back to members.”
Other guests presenters were Andrew Lockhart of BHF Bank, who provided an analyst’s view of the optical disc market; Thilo Heyder of GFK, who outlined the status and future of the disc market in Germany; Dr Leonhard Schwab of dr. schwab Inspection, who discussed efficient mass production of Blu-ray; and Charles Hausman from One-Blue with information about the body’s licensing program.
The tour around the factory gave attendees of the event a chance to see equipment for all sectors of the Singulus business, particularly the BLU-LINE for Blu-ray production, which included moulds and inspection equipment from event sponsors Axxicon and DaTARIUS.
FOOD, DRINK AND HISTORY
Another string to the Singulus bow is its long-standing involvement with the MEDIA-TECH Association and, following the presentations, lunch and factory tour, Singulus hosted a networking dinner in the evening to celebrate 10 years of the Association, a highlight of which was dinner speaker Roland Lacher, former CEO of Singulus and a driving force in the establishment of the Association.
Singulus has maintained an uninterrupted presence on the Association's board. “I am very involved personally,” said Hitzel, who is currently serving as treasurer of the MTA and sees a crucial need for such an industry body in the physical media sector. “We believe that the industry needs a marketplace and as a non-profit organization we are really geared at serving the industry.”
Lacher’s presentation was amusing, informative – and a salutary lesson on the need to maintain solidarity in the industry. The Association came out because of dissatisfaction with the perceived greed of trade event organizers who drove the costs of attending exhibitions so high that companies such as Singulus had no choice but to break away.
Lacher ran through a number of lessons learned along the way, many of which were just as applicable to the everyday running of any business. Lesson one, for instance: “Listen to your customer, or your customer will walk away.”
A history of the MEDIA-TECH Association will appear in a future issue of D2D
