GGRAsia – Paltronics eyes Japan as other Asian markets mature

Paltronics eyes Japan as other Asian markets mature

May 17, 2017 Newsdesk G2E Asia 2017, Latest News

Paltronics Macau Ltd, a provider of gaming equipment and supporting technology, expects modest growth short-term across the Asian casino supply sector until more casinos open, namely in Japan.

“We’re very strong in Macau, the Philippines and Singapore, [while] we are also present in [South] Korea,” said Stephen Cowan (pictured), managing director of the firm’s parent, global casino equipment supplier Paltronics Australasia Pty Ltd. He made the remarks at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) Asia 2017, a three-day gaming trade show held during May 16 and 18 in Macau.

The strategy currently for Paltronics Macau in Asia includes expanding its share of the market for jackpot management technology for gaming machines, stated Mr Cowan.

The company has supplied its One Link suite of products for slot machine jackpots to “almost all casinos” in Macau, he said. The firm’s One Link Slot System series oversees jackpots and bonuses for slot machines, including those that are linked to a progressive form of jackpot award whereby the players within the slot machine system or the specific casino property all contribute to the jackpot fund.

“We [our products] probably connect to half of the slot machines in Macau,” he added.

There were approximately 16,018 slot machines in Macau in the first quarter of this year, according to the city’s casino regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

Paltronics Macau also displayed roulette games and its Infinity sic bo dice shaker at this year’s G2E Asia.

“It’s a replacement market now but not a new [expanding] market,” said Mr Cowan, referring to the Asia-Pacific region. He noted that in Macau, once MGM Cotai and Grand Lisboa Palace were opened on Cotai, in the second half of 2017 and second half of 2018 respectively – not many new large-scale Asian resorts were currently in the pipeline. MGM Cotai is promoted by MGM China Holdings Ltd; Grand Lisboa Palace is a property developed by SJM Holdings Ltd.

Gaming operators and equipment providers have their eyes on Japan as a market, following the passage in December of a bill to legalise casinos in that country. With the Japanese government now working on an implementation bill for casino gaming, a number of analysts have said they expect the first gaming resort in Japan to be ready only after 2021.

Paltronics’ Mr Cowan sees in the meantime potential for sales growth in Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, albeit modest in scale.

“It’s a consolidation period with small growth within the venues [in various markets],” he said. “Japan will be our next focus.”