“Latin America is being less affected by the crisis than the rest of the world”

What products did WMS present before the Andean Region?
The first product we remark is Bluebird 2 series. We have brought the video series and mechanical reels. This product was presented in Las Vegas event, and then in Europe, in London event. In Buenos Aires it was showcased last year, but no one had brought this product to the Andean Region before.

Which has been the general response from the Colombian public when these equipments were released in FADJA?
The reaction has been amazing, both in these product as in Helios, a new low-cost Orion cabinet that we have presented in FADJA, ideal for smaller venues, that cannot afford products such as Bluebird 2 or Twin Star II.

The feedback from operators was good. When they saw that we were covering the whole market, from top-level casinos in search from high-level products up to mid-level products, we have had a very good acceptance.

So far, the only offer that WMS had for Colombia were Premium products, but now that they see we can cover a wider spectrum, in a range of prices that goes from economic to High End products, the response has been tremendous. I am really very satisfied because Colombian customers have valued the product and have bought machines.

Which is the situation in the Colombian region towards the crisis?
I think that any recession has two facts: objective ones, such as the lack of finance, and subjective ones, which in this case are fear and insecurity.

In Europe, I believe the component fear-insecurity is very strong, but in Latin America  - maybe due to previous unfortunate circumstances- there is a certain habit to be accustomed to difficult situations, so customers tend to consider the objective facts more than the subjective ones, and there is not so much fear to invest.

Here, we see that customers have come to see us; they are acquiring products because they know they work, and as soon as they know that with the average winnings they get they may purchase a machine, let’s say, they can pay the machine in the terms they agree with us, so today they purchase. And this is a difference compared to Europe, where the psychological component is freezing the consumers’ attitude. Today, this factor does not exist in Latin America, or at least it exists but in a lesser extent, and the result is that the region is being less affected by the crisis than the rest of the world.

Anyway, have you taken measures to handle the situation?
Yes, we have changed the policy a bit; we have created a more economic product thinking that there are certain operators that will not dare acquire a Premium product, so we have launched Helios, and we have brought Bluebird 2 machines with great possibilities of reaction before the eventual commercial weakness of the product.

The customer buys the machine and knows that, if ii does not perform well among its bettors, it has a huge range of games that may assure its investors in a better way. These are the two reactions: first, to assure even more that the product will work well, and, on the other side, to bring the operator a product we did not have before, because it did not exist in our portfolio of products one such affordable as Helios.

Which will be WMS policy in the Latin American market for the rest of the year?
Our policy in Latin America has to do with the fact that it is penetrating in markets in which it is not present, such as Mexico, where we will enter with strength. In Niga event, we have recently presented our Class 2 machines.

Besides, in the rest of the Latin American markets, the idea is to enhance even more the range of products in Spanish, with products thought for this market. Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Colombia are now considering Bluebird 2 as a real option; this products are already being released in our language, so we will be closer to the people that play with our machines in this part of the world, and we expect it will be the strongest part of the market.