Archos announces +60% growth in revenue for the first semester of 2006 (AcT)

I. Performance of the first semester 2006

1. Turnover from 1st January 2006 to 30th June 2006

ARCHOS, technology leader in the field of portable audio/video devices, achieved sales of € 51.4 million in the first semester 2006 compared to 32.1 M€ for the same period in 2005; a growth + 60 % in line with previsions.

2. Strong growth in all Regions 

The European zone continues its progression and shows a 48% growth representing 69% of total sales of the first semester in 2006. ARCHOS also continues its brand awareness policy in order to strengthen its market share in European distribution. As an example, compared to the 1st semester 2005:

• The French subsidiary has strongly developed its commercial relationship with « Buying Groups » such as Connexion, Expert, Digital, Gitem, and Pro&Cie, as well as with the main mail order companies.
• In England, ARCHOS has signed up 3 new retailers: Comet, CIH Euronics and recently John Lewis.  
• Eastern Europe expands with new customers and distribution channels like Darius en Austria, Media Markt in Hungary or MSH GROUP in Poland.

The American subsidiary confirms its recovery with an 87% increase in sales. The company is also in discussions with the largest American retailers to introduce its 2006 product line. Also, ARCHOS and EchoStar are concluding  a marketing co-operation agreement for which all the new range Portable Multimedia Players will be compatible with the satellite dish box decoders and will be sold under the Archos brand name with the mention ‘DISH Compatible’. ARCHOS will benefit from EchoStar marketing support and its presence in the North American territory.

Asia has achieved an impressive growth of 110% and now represents more than 12% of the consolidated turnover. ARCHOS share in the portable audio and video player marketing China is estimated at over 40%.

II. A solid base for growth

The first semester has been a period of implementing the fundamentals which will allow the second semester 2006 to be approached with serenity as well as for growth during 2007.

1. A new high added value range

During the second quarter ARCHOS has concentrated on its R&D efforts in the preparation of the 4th generation portable audio/video devices, which will be launched everywhere this summer. They will actually be presented to European consumers during the world's largest Consumer Electronics trade fair, the IFA, in Berlin from 1st to 6th September.

This 4th generation offers a new unified design, larger screens from 9 cm to 18 cm, an extended hard disk capacity ranging from 30 GB to 160 GB as well as a single DVR station compatible with the whole range.

ARCHOS’s new Portable Multimedia Players will integrate, in the next twelve months, the latest state of the art technologies, such as WiFi, TV by IP, DVBT, GPS navigation, TV over 3.5 GSM, DVB-H.

As announced during the last press conference, ARCHOS confirms its strategic policy to be a pioneer in the use of emerging “nomad” technologies which will place ARCHOS’ products as the best mobile platforms for TV contents.

2. Strategic partners – first semester 2006

During this first semester, ARCHOS has signed up new partnerships which consolidate its position as leader in the mobile audio/video market:

• IMS Inflight: IMS Inflight has associated with ARCHOS to propose a new large screen PVP (Portable Video Player), the AV700, which will be offered to Airlines for the enjoyment of their customers.
• Kewego: ARCHOS has just signed a European partnership agreement with the leader in Audiovisual and Internet convergence applications in order to offer the possibility to post videos or to have access to a free video library on different subjects.
• EMI: Two of EMI’s main podcasts, “Labels” and “Earshot - French Music News ” will be accessible to all ARCHOS users from ArchoSphere, the new ARCHOS community web site. They will be able to receive automatically and free of charge audio and video files presenting information on artists by music and by interviews.
• VODEO.TV: ARCHOS has recently concluded a partnership with VODEO.TV, the first independent French language VOD offer related to the world of discovery (documentary, interviews, magazines etc…). This agreement offers the possibility for ARCHOS portable device users to download these videos on their products, from the VODEO.TV website or via the ArchoSphere

3. ARCHOS has reinforced its production capacity and its financial structure

ARCHOS’ three Chinese sub-contractors are now completely operational and reply fully to the increase in the production demands. The recent capital increase will enable the company to implement its medium term plan.

III. Confirmation of promising perspectives

Due to the pertinence of its economic model, ARCHOS anticipates, for the first semester 2006, a positive operational result and also confirms the objective of a 60% growth for 2006.

A profitable growth objective maintained due to continuous innovation

The group strategy is focused around various areas of marketing and technology development with the priority of always providing innovative products and meeting the demands of the consumer. In order to become the leading player in portable multimedia players, ARCHOS develops products considered to be benchmarks in the industry, bringing portability to all users. In this domain, the company is determined to reinforce its strategic partnership program with major television and telephone operators, as well as content providers to enable them to enrich their offering and to strengthen their distribution channels. Finally, to penetrate the competitive marketplace, ARCHOS will continue to control operating expenses, particularly by optimizing purchasing costs and product life cycles.

 About ARCHOS
ARCHOS is the leader in the field of portable audio/video devices. ARCHOS invents for the nomadic user. From 1999, its Jukebox 6000 opened the mass market of MP3 players with a hard drive. In 2002, Archos attacked the digital video and launched the first portable video, Jukebox Multimedia, a first in its range. Its Pocket AV range revolutionized leisure time for anyone wishing to enjoy television, music, videos and photos anywhere. Established in 1988, ARCHOS is present in Europe, the United States and Asia. ARCHOS is quoted on Compartment C of Euronext Paris, ISIN Code FR0000182479.
Further information is available on www.archos.com

Source : Actusnews