Aristocrat is not only a popular poker machine developer in Australia; the company holds a generous portion of the market share in Macau, Asia’s premiere gambling destination. As more gambling operators make their way into the market, however, competition is getting steeper, and Aristocrat is working hard to maintain its top to spot. David Punter, Aristocrat’s regional manager in Macau, was interviewed by The Australian on the topic.
He stated that it is his company’s goal to maintain its current 50%-60% market share in the Asian gambling capital. Macau is due for some huge growth in coming years. Several gaming companies are in the process of building new casinos in the city.
Wynn, Las Vegas Sands and Crown Casinos have their sights set on Macau, and Aristocrat wants to ensure that it remains a sought-after gaming developer when these new venues are built. Aristocrat has the most significant presence at the Wynn Macau. Currently, the company provides 70% of the games that are located in the venue.
As the casino expands and new venues move into the city, Aristocrat will have to compete with other pokie developers – but the company is getting a head start. "What you will see over the next five years on Cotai is a doubling in the number of electronic gaming machines for that area of Macau for both slot machines and e-table games,” says Mr Punter. “That means 6000 to 8000 new machines”.
The company’s biggest competitor is Ainsworth, a pokie developer that is run by Aristocrat’s founder, Len Ainsworth. In a very short period of time, Ainsworth has captured 10% of Macau’s poker machine market share. There is the opportunity for huge growth for the competitor and Aristocrat wants to cut it off early.
Aristocrat is also making plans to expand across Asia. Manila is becoming a new gambling capital, and the pokie developer is getting its foot in the year. This year, Aristocrat supplied half of the 1200 pokies that were installed at the new Solaire Casino, and has its sights set on further growth.
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