August 20, 2007 by Mac Makhni.

In August we participated in the Flash Memory Summit held in Santa Clara. We exhibited our products at the Summit. It was a wonderful opportunity to interact with the technology leaders in the Flash memory space and it gave me a great insight into the future trends and new applications being envisioned for flash memory. Our business model is definitely a new application and very disruptive.

We officially launched our preloading and duplication services group at the Summit. Preloading services is just one component of our business. We’ve positioned ourselves as a one-stop end-to-end solutions provider. Content providers can give us just their content and we take it from there and deliver a complete solution right up to the point of sale, if required. Click here to see the entire press release.

Flame Imaging is at the critical intersection of content and the mobile consumer. We’re enablers across the value chain. We’re enabling rich content to be delivered directly to the consumer preloaded on memory cards. We’re enabling content providers to explore an alternate delivery channel and build new revenue streams. We’re enabling mobile handsets to transition from communication devices into entertainment devices. We’re enabling operators to test out new strategies to improve ARPU.

Posted in Memory card duplication, Flash memory, Mobile consumer, Mobile content, Mobile devices | 1 Comment »

June 1, 2007 by Mac Makhni.

It’s been a very hectic Summer. We’ve been busy expanding our operation and getting traction into several new markets including CD/DVD duplication and replication companies. In May, I was invited to speak at the MediaTech Show in Long Beach by IDDA (International Disc Duplicating Association). The focus of my presentation was to highlight how digital music downloads and “snacking” lifestyle has had a drastic impact on “physical” music sales and that flash memory media duplication offers a natural transition from CD/DVD duplication.

It’s risky to stay exclusively in optical media duplication and the timing to make the transition to flash media could not be better. Consider this:

• According to the Wall Street Journal, US music CD sales plunged 20% in the first quarter of 2007 and the Toronto Star reported that Canadian music CD and DVD sales plummeted 35% in the same time period.
• Music retailers such as Tower Records have gone out of business and Best Buy is reallocating music shelf space
• CD prices are under pressure by big-box retailer such as Walmart and margins are getting squeezed

The potential for preloaded flash memory media is huge and opens up some exciting new market opportunities particularly in the mobile space. There are many ways in which CD/DVD duplicators can benefit from Flame Imaging’s expertise as well as products and services. For example:

1. Low risk end-to-end fulfillment services - Flame Imaging provides a complete range of services including sourcing the flash memory media, duplication, imprinting/labeling and packaging. Initially, CD/DVD duplicators can get flash duplication jobs fulfilled through us. This is a low risk, low cost approach to verifying the potential of a new opportunity. It also improves customer outreach by adding new customers or offering expanded services to existing customers.
2. USB duplication systems have the lowest cost per slot and unparalleled support - our strategic partnership with altec has enabled us to bring world class duplication technology at excellent prices into the US and it’s backed by altec’s full 2 year warranty
3. Extending current markets - we partner with CD/DVD duplicators to explore new market opportunities such as music/audio book publishers, mobile entertainment/gaming, navigation systems, movie studios, education, productivity software, etc.

There are amazing untapped opportunities in this space. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Posted in USB duplication, DVD duplication, CD duplication, Mobile devices | 1 Comment »

April 9, 2007 by Mac Makhni.

At the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) in San Francisco last month, it became very clear to me that many gaming companies are struggling to find the path to mobile games riches. The road to monetizing mobile games is even tougher for smaller gaming companies that cannot afford to consistently maintain an on-deck presence on the mobile carrier’s deck. Unfortunately, this is only the tip of the iceberg, here are some other scary stats:

• Only about 5% of mobile users are downloading games according to GDC keynote speaker, Trip Hawkins, CEO of Digital Chocolate.
• Mobile game publishers are being squeezed from both sides - razor thin margins coupled with increasing development costs and dependency on brand names is limiting innovation.
• According to NPD Group, the top mobile games for the 2nd half of 2006 were Tetris, Bejeweled, Tetris Deluxe, Pac-Man, Diner Dash, etc - all brand names.
• 70% of mobile users who download a game never buy a second game. That’s rough!!

So, if you’re a mobile gaming company without the clout to command an on-deck position, your choices are:

1. Go off-deck, build your own website and start selling direct to user
2. Work with mobile game aggregators to get your games to the user

But, there is a fundamental issue with both these strategies - how many people actually use the web to find mobile games? In other words, how will the users, particularly first time/new users find you if they don’t know you exist? Fortunately, there is a solution to this sticky problem - PRELOADING! What’s that? Read on.

Now for the good news. According to a recent press release from Telephia, preloading a game on to devices is a critical merchandizing lever. According to Kanishka Agarwal, VP of Mobile Content, “preloaded game demos provide consumers with easy access and a quick sample of the game title, increasing the likelihood of them purchasing the game and ultimately driving revenues for the publishers. Publishers must focus effort on handset preload decks in addition to carrier download decks as a critical merchandizing tool”.

Infact, our products are presently being used by a major mobile handset manufacturer for high volume content preloading on to portable flash media such as miniSD and microSD cards. For mobile game developers and publishers we can take the preloading concept one step further and open up an alternate distribution channel by preloading not just game demos but complete games on to portable flash media such miniSD and microSD cards. These cards can then be distributed through traditional retail channels and provide an excellent opportunity to promote the games to new users. In addition to the games, the large memory capacity provides new and untapped revenue sources in co-branding, advertising and bundling opportunities! It’s that simple!!

Posted in mobile games, Mobile devices, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

March 7, 2007 by Mac Makhni.

Looking ahead at the future of the mobile phone, there is a significant movement toward convergence. The mobile phone in the not too distant future will be one small, reliable, convenient device that can provide the full spectrum of information, entertainment, games and productivity options. This convergence is driving rapid growth and adoption of portable flash media as a very effective content distribution engine.

Posted in Mobile devices | 1 Comment »