Xpand 3D CEO Maria Costeira talks about challenges facing 3D
Speaking in Cannes, where XPAND 3D signed a new three year contract renewing its role as the technical partner, company CEO Maria Costeira, considers some of the main challenges facing the 3D market.
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How much of the turnover of XPAND 3D is down to cinema? Given the many other fields in which you’re active, is cinema a core part of the company?
In terms of volume of units, it (cinema) is still a very significant part. We manufacture over a million units for cinemas worldwide in terms of pairs of glasses and systems. We have 6000 installations worldwide. That is growing, mainly due to China, India, South America (especially Brazil and Argentina) and Russia and Turkey. The volume of cinema is significant but it’s not the biggest field of the company.
If cinema isn’t driving 3D, what is?
It’s definitely home entertainment in the sense that there are so many TVs and laptops worldwide. For instance, we manufacture for HP. You just have to think that Hewlett Packard is the biggest manufacturer of laptops in the world. We have a computer we specifically design for them called the Envy. That came out 18 months ago, the first series. We manufacture for Phillips. If every single TV that goes out gets shipped with two pairs of glasses, you just have to multiply that. We do JVC, Mitsubishi and Toshiba. We do product design for the majority of consumer electronic brands in the world. XPAND is not a glasses company. Glasses is a means to an end. We have auto-stereoscopic devices, we have passive devices, we have medical devices that have nothing to do with 3D medical.
Is 2012 going to be a good year for 3D?
I think this year is going to be a good year. There are good movies. That’s not one Avatar but there is a serious line-up of solid movies. You will have a constant array of movies coming out during the summer months and over Christmas. I think that is going to sustain the growth of this box-office. Simultaneously, you have very good gaming. Gaming is the driver of all technology. Nobody likes to talk video gaming because (they think) it’s so kid driven. It’s not. Gaming is all about adults. Video games are going to drive a lot of the movies we are going to see at the box-office. TV business is back on track. In Japan and Korea, all displays being sold are 3D ready. That means you have a wide range of windows where you can be showing product. There are more 3D channels. Apple is coming in to 3D, YouTube is coming into 3D.
See the full interview here: