LOTR Films (was Epic price increase) |
|
CyberShadow
|
Post subject: LOTR Films (was Epic price increase)  Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 6:23 pm |
|
| Swarm Tyrant |
 |
 |
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 6:22 pm
Posts: 9350
Location: Singapore
|
| Quote (Legion 4 @ 10 Jan. 2006 (15:33)) | | My buddy 3rdI, saw on a site somewhere, that G/W stock was down 17% |
Yes. There has been a lot of traffic on many other boards about this fact. GW sales are down 17 percent, and that does not include a post-XMas season which was worse than last year as well!
There are some priceless quotes out there from the MD (Kirby) regarding the fact that the Independant retailers in the US have produced much reduced revenue for the company!  _________________ https://www.cybershadow.ninja - A brief look into my twisted world, including wargames and beyond. https://www.net-armageddon.org - The official NetEA (Epic Armageddon) site and resource.
|
|
| Top |
|
 |
|
MaksimSmelchak
|
Post subject: LOTR Films (was Epic price increase) Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 7:07 pm |
|
| Brood Brother |
 |
 |
Joined: Sun Feb 16, 2003 4:43 pm
Posts: 7258
Location: Sacramento, California, USA
|
|
Hi CS and Gang,
The US and UK GW markets are very different and work and make decisions independently of each other. That should be noted.
The US made a decision to kill Internet sales short of the main GW company, which they felt would increase profits. This put a lot of Internet business out of business and probably had more of a detrimental effect on the "40k hobby" than the company anticipated.
Another decision the US company made was to kill bitz sales of all but a few selected lines. This was another business decsion which much of the fan base abhorred.
The GW-UK company seems to be a bit better at treating its customers well.
Ozzies have been hosed for some time.
We'll see what happens with all of the various GWs.
I beleive that the GW-US market has taken a bigger hit than the GW-UK market. The US miniature games has spawned a very large number fo competitors to GW's former 40k market dominance.
The biggest impediment to GW's success seems to be its corporate business structure. And possibly that GW outgrew the safe size limits for a hobby company.
Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak.
|
|
| Top |
|
|
|
nealhunt
|
Post subject: LOTR Films (was Epic price increase) Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 9:10 pm |
|
| Purestrain |
 |
Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2003 10:52 pm
Posts: 9617
Location: Nashville, TN, USA
|
|
Their sales trend has been bad for a while.
They increased profits in 2004 but did so on reduced revenue. That means they increased profits only because they jacked their profit margins up more than they lost in sales. That means prices are up and market share is down. That's a very, very bad sign.
Companies grow by capturing market share, not by increasing profit margins. Losing profit share for GW is even more problematic because much of their marketing plan is driven by the fact that they are the biggest dog in the pack. People buy GW stuff not because it's the best but because it's popular and therefore easy to find a game.
Losing their dominance is a double whammy, hitting both their revenue and their marketing.
I'll be very interested in seeing what their annual report says about 2005 when it comes out in a few months.
_________________
Neal
|
|
| Top |
|
|
|
primarch
|
Post subject: LOTR Films (was Epic price increase) Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 10:39 pm |
|
| Brood Brother |
|
 |
Joined: Fri Feb 14, 2003 12:46 am
Posts: 27069
Location: Edmond, Oklahoma USA
|
| Quote (MaksimSmelchak @ 10 Jan. 2006 (13:07)) | Hi CS and Gang,
The US and UK GW markets are very different and work and make decisions independently of each other. That should be noted.
The US made a decision to kill Internet sales short of the main GW company, which they felt would increase profits. This put a lot of Internet business out of business and probably had more of a detrimental effect on the "40k hobby" than the company anticipated.
Another decision the US company made was to kill bitz sales of all but a few selected lines. This was another business decsion which much of the fan base abhorred.
The GW-UK company seems to be a bit better at treating its customers well.
Ozzies have been hosed for some time.
We'll see what happens with all of the various GWs.
I beleive that the GW-US market has taken a bigger hit than the GW-UK market. The US miniature games has spawned a very large number fo competitors to GW's former 40k market dominance.
The biggest impediment to GW's success seems to be its corporate business structure. And possibly that GW outgrew the safe size limits for a hobby company.
Shalom,
Maksim-Smelchak. |
Hi!
On some of the threads on other sites it seems the overall percentage decrease was higher in the UK than the US. But the US has been trending downwards for quite some time. The UK drop was over the last year, but its big percentagewise.
Cutting internet sales was a big reason for this in my view. Add in the brisk ebay trade in cheaply obtainable 40k stuff and you have an interesting mix.
Primarch
|
|
| Top |
|
|
|
primarch
|
Post subject: LOTR Films (was Epic price increase) Posted: Tue Jan 10, 2006 10:42 pm |
|
| Brood Brother |
|
|
Joined: Fri Feb 14, 2003 12:46 am
Posts: 27069
Location: Edmond, Oklahoma USA
|
| Quote (nealhunt @ 10 Jan. 2006 (15:10)) | Their sales trend has been bad for a while.
They increased profits in 2004 but did so on reduced revenue. ?That means they increased profits only because they jacked their profit margins up more than they lost in sales. ?That means prices are up and market share is down. ?That's a very, very bad sign.
Companies grow by capturing market share, not by increasing profit margins. ?Losing profit share for GW is even more problematic because much of their marketing plan is driven by the fact that they are the biggest dog in the pack. ?People buy GW stuff not because it's the best but because it's popular and therefore easy to find a game.
Losing their dominance is a double whammy, hitting both their revenue and their marketing.
I'll be very interested in seeing what their annual report says about 2005 when it comes out in a few months. |
Hi!
Good point Neal. The more the price goes up and more people bail on the game, means more stores dedicate less space to it which leads to less presence and market share.
Market share which games like warmachine, FoW, SST and others are eagerly picking up.
Some thought it would take one other "mega-company" to take GW down, but its more likely their own bad policies and many good small companies can achive the same effect.
I agree that their 2005 report will be most interesting.
Primarch
|
|
| Top |
|
|
|
Markconz
|
Post subject: LOTR Films (was Epic price increase) Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:23 am |
|
| Purestrain |
|
 |
Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2003 10:43 pm
Posts: 7925
Location: New Zealand
|
|
Bad GW sales = LOTR gone. 'Nuff said.
|
|
| Top |
|
|
|
Tas
|
Post subject: LOTR Films (was Epic price increase) Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:38 am |
|
| Brood Brother |
|
 |
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2003 10:01 am
Posts: 7823
Location: Sydney, NSW
|
|
Market share which games like warmachine, FoW, SST and others are eagerly picking up. |
I for one think this is a great thiung. Greater exposure for smaller companies, which in turn will (eventually) lead to an improvement in GW to get back into the game. This is a good example of why competition is a good thing. It also gives people a view of things apart from GW.
Some thought it would take one other "mega-company" to take GW down |
and they were right - its just that nobody really thought that mega-company would be GW itself!
_________________
Tas
My General blog: http://tasmancave.blogspot.com/
My VSF Blog: http://pauljamesog.blogspot.com/
My ECW Blog: http://declaresir.blogspot.com/
| Top |
|
|
|
Legion 4
|
Post subject: LOTR Films (was Epic price increase) Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 6:00 am |
|
| Brood Brother |
|
 |
Joined: Thu Feb 13, 2003 5:13 pm
Posts: 36989
Location: Ohio - USA
|
The pending F/Ork release may be Epic's "swanson song" ... And DRM should do well ! 
_________________
Legion 4 "Cry Havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War !" ... "People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."
|
|
| Top |
|
|
|
CyberShadow
|
Post subject: LOTR Films (was Epic price increase) Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 1:48 pm |
|
| Swarm Tyrant |
|
|
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 6:22 pm
Posts: 9350
Location: Singapore
|
| Quote (Markconz @ 11 Jan. 2006 (01:23)) | | Bad GW sales = LOTR gone. 'Nuff said. |
I didnt think that they could. The rumour was that the license was a fixed term and the support was built in somewhere. I am afraid that more likely is: Bad GW sales = SG gone!_________________ https://www.cybershadow.ninja - A brief look into my twisted world, including wargames and beyond. https://www.net-armageddon.org - The official NetEA (Epic Armageddon) site and resource.
|
|
| Top |
|
|
|
blackhorizon
|
Post subject: LOTR Films (was Epic price increase) Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 1:54 pm |
|
| Brood Brother |
|
 |
Joined: Wed Jul 13, 2005 9:40 pm
Posts: 2842
Location: Netherlands
|
|
Afraid so, first cutbacks will be on SG, then FW after that the rest. So there go our hopes for new releases in february. Isn't it time some intelligent people with money try to buy SG from GW?
I heard somewhere LotR was the most profitable part of the company at the times of the movies. And because of license and stuff I think LotR will be the last to go at the moment!
GW did a great job on the LotR models and even the rules have their good parts, especially in skirmish games. However people wanted big fights after the Two Towers & Return of the King, massive armies, not small skirmishes. But the rules are terrible for massive armies. That was the downfall -> better rules would have kept LotR on the good side of the bank account.
_________________
Light at the Horizon.
Warp Rift
Project Distant Darkness
Eldar MMS
GothiComp Hall of Fame
http://www.tacticalwargames.net/taccmd/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=19176
|
|
| Top |
|
|
