The view from a systems reseller

Systems resellers are the glue that ties toolmakers with creators. Cambridge-based ROM Data Ltd is such a company. STEVE POWER, its CEO, shares his view of the market he is serving.

The company was established in 2004 to meet the demand for a ‘specialist DVD reseller’, providing a complete end-to-end service to customers – consultancy, sales, training and support. Previously, I worked at Sonic Europe as Technical Support Specialist, then five years as a DVD Product Manager for broadcast industry resellers.

Our business has always been about building and sustaining relationships. We don’t believe in ‘hard-selling’ and we’ve got no interest whatsoever in becoming a ‘box-shifter’. We listen attentively to our customers requirements, and aim to build our business around them. This is seen through our tailor-made approach to system building and our sensible pricing.

We’ve had some involvement in every aspect of the DVD life cycle from it’s early days right through to maturity. Now we’re focussed on Blu-ray. The capacity of the disc may have changed, but the way we do business has not! We’re a Sonic Blu-ray reseller, working closely with the guys in the Sonic London office.

Blu-ray has had a rapidly evolving product life-cycle, we are now beyond the early adoption period after only 18 months, and charging headlong into what should be a period of huge growth for the format.

For this growth to occur however, several things need to be in place. For me, it’s a case of ‘when’ not ‘if’ Blu-ray will be reaching that critical mass. A healthier economy would surely help, we need to see a concerted effort by everyone involved: CE manufacturers, Blu-ray software suppliers, AACS, content owners, distributors, authoring facilities, replicators and resellers.

With reference to CE manufacturers, the cost of Blu-ray players is an obvious factor. We’ve already seen a drop in pricing in recent months, perhaps the first piece of the jigsaw puzzle is in place?

The onus is on Blu-ray software creators such as Sonic to continue to develop robust, creative tools for our customers. This will continue of course, we are already seeing shifting demand and purchasing patterns since the early adoption period. Independent facilites are now purchasing Blu-ray production systems that were once out of their price range. We are starting to see more requests for BD-J tools too, therefore we expect to see a lot of product development in this area.

The success of the DVD format was largely achieved because it was embraced by all – independent filmmakers and distributors, corporate, educational in addition to the Hollywood studios. We need to see this happening with Blu-ray. AACS remains to be an unknown quantity for smaller independent content owners. These facilities do not yet know the final cost of creating AACS-encrypted Blu-ray discs. Uncertainty breeds a wait-and-see attitude.

Content owners and distributors are focused on keeping costs down. However, minimising costs can potentially hurt the overall consumer experience. Creativity will suffer if the main focus is on creating Blu-ray discs as cheaply as possible. Enhanced interactivity and the creation of a more rewarding consumer experience can only benefit us all in the long run, even if it costs slightly more! It is a balancing act. Consumers find Blu-ray titles online and in-store slightly too expensive. Would a sensible price decrease provide the much-needed consumer stimulus?

Authoring facilities will continue to push the boundaries with exciting, interactive content and quality HD video and audio. However, there is another way they can contribute to the overall success of Blu-ray. Pricing of services is a controversial, divisive subject. If authoring houses engage in a price war or continue to undercut each other at such an early stage in the BD format, everybody loses in the long term. Prices are nowhere near the level that everyone once expected. Perhaps if the demand for Blu-ray increases, we will see a ‘levelling off’ in this area. In the meantime, it is vital that every facility adopts a sensible pricing strategy.

If the predictions for the growth of Blu-ay are correct, there will be a shortage in Blu-ray replication capacity. An increase in the number of companies offering Blu-ray replication services would be an obvious antidote to this potential problem.

What’s ROM Data Ltd’s role in all of this? As a systems integrator and Blu-ray reseller, we will continue to create systems that are affordable in cost and operation. We’ve already seen a vast change in system pricing and configuration since the early days of Blu-ray. We’ll continue to listen to our customers and we’ll continue to do what we do and do it well!

Contact: www.romdata.co.uk ...

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