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MCV 16/07/10 23 TERRITORY REPORT: GREECE


TERRITORY ANALYSIS


Chris Stanton-Jones of emerging market specialists Catapult Business Solutions provides us with an overview of the Greek games market…


After several years of good growth, Greece’s economy is in the grip of a severe financial crisis. The economy shrank by around two


per cent in 2009 with a drastic decrease in consumer spending. Tourist receipts were also down substantially and the global downturn affected Greek shipping earnings. Despite and considering the


economic crisis, the games market is not performing as badly as might be expected. Instead, it is probably the weak euro, the strong pound and the resultant cheap grey imports from the UK that are having more of an impact on the market. In 2009, The software market


probably decreased at retail by between five and 15 per cent year- on-year – although when taking into account the substantial grey market


“Despite the current economic crisis, the Greek video games market is not


performing too badly.” [THE FACTS: GREECE]


Population: 11,306,000 Currency: Euro


GDP: (Per Capita) $29,881 Capital City: Athens Languages: Greek


Distributors: CD Media, Zegetron, Dionic, Nortec, Dialctis, Beacon, Enarxis


Key retailers: Media Markt, Saturn, Plaisio, Multirama, Kotsovolos, Elektro World, Germanos, Carrefour, Fnac


DISTRIBUTION


Greece has a disproportionately large number of distributors when you take the size of its market into account. The channels are largely dominated


by five key software distribution companies that manage the majority of publishers’ titles. The largest are CD Media and Zegetron, which hold over 60 per cent of the market between them. Most publishers and


platform holders have exclusive contracts with the local distributors – Nortec, for example, only handles Nintendo products. Microsoft, EA and Atari are the only games firms that have their own local offices established in Greece. Distribution in Greece is particularly


problematic thanks to the mountainous landscape and poor infrastructure around the rural areas.


SHARE OF SW MARKET IN VALUE BETWEEN DISTRIBUTORS 6%


7% Dionic Centric 9% Nortec 3% There are also over 250 inhabitable Microsoft


islands to service. However, the recession has provided the biggest problems for distributors, with retailers becoming reluctant to invest in large quantities of stock, both of new releases and back catalogue titles. “Financing of sales is


5% Diaktis 1% Beacon 29% Zegetron 33% CD Media 7% Sony


really hard as customers want three to six months credit,” said Nikolas Georgakopoulos, commercial director for distributor Enarxis. “But distributors are


afraid to be aggressive on sales and positioning because


of the financial status of the majority of these customers. “Despite these problems, the


recession’s impact on the games


market was respectively smaller than that of other industries.”


www.catapultbusiness.co.uk


product, it probably grew by five cent or more. With disposable income tight, Platinum/Classic releases and lower- priced software have taken a higher share of the market. The hardware market has performed better on the back of strong PS3 sales and in 2009 grew by approximately five to 10 per cent year-on-year. In fact, PS3 dominates the more


powerful formats and grew even stronger in 2009, with Xbox 360 and Wii having little market impact. DS is strongest in the portable


market; a sector which is growing. The PC market is shrinking but still has presence and is dominated by the large MMOs, which are more resistant to piracy. The key challenges remain the


difficult economic backdrop, piracy, grey imports from the UK, the need to further grow the casual and social gaming sector, and low software attach ratios on portable formats. In spite of these problems, Greece


remains a mature games market with good revenue opportunities on PS3 and PC. It also has an improving retail environment.


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