Singulus Acquires the Blu-Ray Activities of Oerlikon
And Oerlikon will discontinue its CD and DVD production.
This is a Press Release edited by StorageNewsletter.com on February 18, 2008 at 12:54 pmSINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG signed
a contract with Oerlikon Balzers AG (OERLIKON), on January 31 for the
acquisition of Blu-ray disc equipment operations. With this strategic
acquisition SINGULUS takes over the entire Blu-ray activities as well
as the servicing of the Blu-ray disc production lines already delivered
by OERLIKON so far. OERLIKON has in addition announced that it will
discontinue its CD and DVD production line operations. This will
further strengthen SINGULUS’ market lead in this segment.
The
Blu-ray format has definitively established itself as the new standard
in the market. High-definition television, HDTV (HD Ready and Full HD),
combined with the Blu-Ray video format, is the new technology of the
media sector.
“With the strategic acquisition of the Blu-ray
disc equipment operations from OERLIKON we are improving our good
position for Blu‑ray still further. The decision of the major US film
studios in favor of the Blu‑ray format as the future video standard
will result in increasing demand for our machines over the next couple
of years. SINGULUS will substantially benefit from this trend,”
commented Stefan A. Baustert, CEO of the SINGULUS TECHNOLOGIES AG.
The
parties have agreed to keep the purchase price for the transaction
confidential. Besides the production machines SINGULUS will acquire all
important optical disc patents and licenses as well as OERLION’s
customer base.
Background to Blu-ray disc/BLULINE
It
becomes more and more clear that “Hollywood” is opting for Blu-ray.
According to a study performed by the research company Understanding
& Solutions the production of Blu-ray discs will almost triple in
2008 compared with 2007. Other institutes expect even higher growth
rates. Warner’s decision to change over to the Blu-ray camp announced
during the CES fair in Las Vegas has a massive impact on the sector.
Many other studios have switched in the meantime as well. Latest market
figures confirm this trend. According to Gamestar Online and the US
market research company National Purchasing Diary, sales of Blu-ray
players and game consoles in the US dominate the market for the 3rd
format generation with a market share of 92.53 %.
SINGULUS has
upgraded its Blu-ray disc equipment in preparation for the production
of the 50 gigabyte dual layer Blu-ray disc. Stefan A Baustert, Chief
Executive Officer of SINGULUS, added: “We firmly believe that the
global market penetration of the Blu-ray disc will kick off in 2008.
SINGULUS consequently expects significant growth for the Blu-ray
activities in the 2008 financial year.”
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