Singulus Technologies announced that it has received new orders for its Blu-ray Disc (BD) replication systems as a result of increasing demand for the high definition video format in Germany.
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Unedited press release follows:
SINGULUS Receives New Orders for Blu-ray Production Machines
• German Blu-ray market moves to the top in Europe in 2012
• 731 new movies (+ 47 %) released on Blu-ray during the first 3 months of 2012
• The Blu-ray format is expanding about 35 % in 2012 as well
Kahl am Main, May 07, 2012 – During the first four months of 2012 SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES (SINGULUS) recorded new order intake for Blu-ray Disc production machines from Germany. German and European movie companies, the so-called independents, increasingly use Blu-ray Discs for the marketing of their movies. In the past year record sales with movies were realized in the German market. According to the German Association of Audiovisual Media (BVV) the new high is mainly also a result of the strong increases of the Blu-ray format: in 2011, the sales volume of the “blue disc” increased by 41 % to 17.0 million discs. Sales rose by +39 % to € 267 million and are already accountable for almost one fifths of the total sales volume. In Germany more than 5,000 movies were already available on Blu-ray Disc as of the end of 2011. In the 1st quarter 2012 731 additional movies were published on Blu-ray – this corresponds to a rise of about 47 % compared with the same period in 2011.
A key indicator for the continuing growth in Germany is the sharply increasing level of volume sales of Blu-ray players. According to the forecast of the industry association Bitkom, which is based on figures of the Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (GfK), approximately 2.3 million Blu-ray players are expected to be sold in Germany in 2012. As a result the German Blu-ray market moves to the European top.
According to forecasts by the market research institute Futuresource Consulting the global sales for the high definition format Blu-ray is expanding at double-digit rates of about 35 % in 2012 as well.
Dr.-Ing. Stefan Rinck, Chief Executive Officer of the SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG, comments: “Due to the developments in the past year and positive forecasts we expect the growth trend in the Blu-ray market to continue in 2012 and to have a favorable impact on the demand for our Blu-ray production machines. Currently, SINGULUS is in talks with international disc manufacturers for additional projects.”
Profile SINGULUS:
SINGULUS continues to expand its activities in the business segments Solar and Optical Disc. The goal is to attain a leading position in the silicon and thin-film solar technology as a machine supplier as well as a development partner for new cell concepts and to maintain the market leadership in the Optical Disc segment for production equipment for the manufacturing of dual-layer Blu-ray Discs. The business activities in the division Semiconductor are extensively strengthened in the course of the apparent growing market for MRAM semiconductor technology. In addition, the company reviews other sectors and work areas, where new market segments can be developed on the basis of the present know-how in the area of vacuum coating.