SuzoHapp expects faster Asian business growth in 2H: exec
Cash handling technology specialist and gaming industry equipment supplier SuzoHapp Group expects business in the Asian casino sector to ramp up starting in the “mid to late” portion of this year. So says the company’s vice president, commercial and strategy for the Asia-Pacific region, Peter Noye (pictured).
Business in Asia’s casino sector “is perhaps not growing as quickly as we would like, but certainly we want to remain relevant in that space,” Mr Noye told GGRAsia in a recent interview. “New [casino] openings have slowed a little bit in the region; I think that impacted us.”
He added: “We have some of the casino table deposit machines going out [to clients], kiosks and some [display] signage… There are some new products we are working on, and we would continue building on that.”
SuzoHapp is a privately-held firm. Its financial results are not publicly available.
Mr Noye told GGRAsia the firm expected part of the sales improvement in the Asia casino sector to come from existing clients, namely through their acquisition of new products. Mr Noye stressed innovation was therefore an important part of the firm’s business-growth strategy.
One product SuzoHapp has been working on for some years already is its chip dispensing machine. According to Mr Noye, the machine is currently only deployed at the Crown Melbourne casino, in Australia.
There is “some interest” in Asia for such a type of product, the executive said. “Everywhere, operators are looking for efficiency and automation,” he added.
Mr Noye explained that SuzoHapp’s ultimate goal was to transform the chip dispensing machine into a product that could perform “chip recycling” functions. That is industry jargon for chip management products that are able to automate the ‘chip cycle’, i.e. to accept and dispense chips, while also storing them securely and keeping an accurate accounting of the whole process. Such products are said to reduce operational expenses and labour costs, while increasing accuracy and security.
SuzoHapp already offers products with cash recycling functions under its CashComplete line.
“We have some cashless products coming through as well,” said Mr Noye, although noting that the casino sector in Asia was still mostly driven by cash-based operations.
In January, it was announced that SuzoHapp and Castles Technology International Corp of Taiwan, a manufacturer of payment processing hardware, had agreed to collaborate in developing and selling new sorts of terminals that accept payments in forms other than cash.
Last October SuzoHapp and gaming equipment and financial technology supplier Everi Payments Inc formed a partnership to sell their combined cash management know-how to casinos.
Prior to that, SuzoHapp signed in November 2017 a deal with Nanoptix Inc, a Canadian firm that designs and manufactures thermal printers for use at point of sale, and in the lottery, gaming and kiosk markets. The agreement gave SuzoHapp global-distributor status for all Nanoptix printers.
SuzoHapp was for many years focused on developing and distributing machine components for equipment operators and original equipment manufacturers in the amusement and gaming sectors. The company is now also very active in the cash handling segment, following several acquisitions of other firms.
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