The EILERS-FANTINI survey is designed to track slot machine and related technology purchasing trends on a quarterly basis and is the gaming industry’s largest slot survey in terms of total casinos and slot machines surveyed.
This report for the second quarter of calendar year 2014 includes record-level responses from key purchasing agents at a number of North American commercial and tribal casinos, several racino/VLT operators, as well as seven international participants.
In total, our 97 survey participants collectively operate 364 gaming venues with approximately 352,000 total slot machines or equivalent gaming devices. Our North America participants operate 271 casinos and about 317,600 slot machines, representing about 32.5 percent of the total install base of machines in North America.
Purchasing Activity for 2Q CY14
North America survey participants purchased and took delivery of 5,188 replacement slot machines in the quarter. Based on this quarter’s survey results, Eilers-Fantini estimates total North America replacement sales are likely to be approximately 15,900 games in 2Q CY14, which is slightly better than first-quarter survey results and roughly in-line with Eilers-Fantini’s industry projection although down slightly versus the prior year.
Aristocrat and Bally Lead the Big 5 Vendors
Aristocrat and Bally were the clear market share gainers among the Big 5 vendors in the second quarter, based on the survey. For the second quarter, North America survey participants purchased 17 percent of their games from Aristocrat and added +161 (net) leased games during the quarter. Bally also had a strong quarter as survey participants purchased 18 percent of their games from Bally and added +98 net leased games during the quarter.
Non-Big 5 Vendors Continue to Gain Share
We note non-Big 5 vendors continue to take market share in North America with survey participants purchasing 15 percent of games from non-Big 5 vendors during the quarter compared with 14 percent the prior quarter. Key suppliers gaining ground include Multimedia Games, Aruze and Ainsworth.
Top Leased Titles
Once again IGT’s Wheel of Fortune franchise remained the top performing premium leased game among North America and international survey participants in the second quarter.
Aristocrat’s Buffalo Stampede had another strong quarter and remained in second place. Finally, GTECH/Spielo’s Zuma title performed very well moving up the charts into the third best performing game, edging out IGT’s Megabucks and Bally’s Quick Hit Cash Wheel, which rounded out the top five titles this quarter.
Top Casino-Owned Games
According to survey participants, the industry’s top three performing casino-owned games in the quarter were 1) Aristocrat’s Buffalo, 2) Bally’s Quick Hits and 3) Aristocrat’s Wonder 4. As for the vendors in aggregate, the top three suppliers were 1) IGT, 2) Aristocrat and 3) Bally/SHFL.
CY14 Replacement Demand
The North America survey participants (operating 271 casinos and 317,600 slots) plan to replace 7.2 percent of the casino-owned games on their floors in calendar year 2014, which is slightly below survey results from the prior quarter. Eilers-Fantini believes the decline reflects continued weakness in gross gaming revenue trends starting in late 2013 and carrying through the first half of 2014.
Technology Interest
Roughly 37 percent of participants plan to install “Picture-in-Picture” (PiP) system technology over the next 12 months and roughly 15 percent of participants plan to install printer-based “targeted promotional couponing” technology. Interest in PiP increased versus prior quarter responses while interest in targeted couponing declined. Bally remains the preferred PiP vendor while TransAct was the preferred smart couponing solution.
Slot Printer Market Share
For North America participants, FutureLogic had 49 percent market share of slot machine printers on casino floors followed by TransAct at 38 percent and other vendors at 13 percent. For international participants, FutureLogic had 95 percent while TransAct was 5 percent.
Multimedia Games Has Best Slot Tournament Solution
Based on the second quarter survey, participants overwhelmingly cite Multimedia Games’ TournEvent as the best slot tournament solution in the market followed by Bally’s iView DM Tournaments and IGT’s Tournament Manager.