Bally Technologies says it will draw on its experience of serving slot customers in Asia in formulating its strategy for a re-entry into the Australia slot market.
“That’s probably the single most important plan for us [in the Asia Pacific region] to execute over the next 12 to 18 months, Cath Burns, Vice President & Managing Director, Asia Pacific, tells Asian Gaming Intelligence.
Miss Burns has developed an enviable reputation for delivering success after steadily helping Bally build its Macau market share over the last few years.
“Australia is the largest gaming market in Asia Pacific, so it’s an entry that we will get right,” she adds.
“We look at Australia [as a market] the way an Australian company would look at Nevada. Entering [the] Nevada [market] isn’t something you would do at a week’s notice. You would be foolish to do so.
“Australia is a mature gaming market with 200,000 machines. So when you go into Australia you are setting up a full scale operation to meet the market needs. You’re designing product, you’re implementing specific protocols. It’s something you want to get right the first time,” she explains.
Bally, which will announce its results for the second quarter of 2009 to 30th June shortly, says the company is well placed to serve Australian customers—in part because there are already a lot of ethnic Asian slot players in Australia.
“The experience we’ve had in the region serves us well to go into a market such as Australia,” explains Ms Burns.
“There are some parallels between the player here [in East Asia] and the player in Australia.”
