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NEWS: Navarre Reports that Funimation Exceeds Q1 Expectations


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Kiriska



Joined: 01 Jul 2004
Posts: 92
PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:42 pm Reply with quote
You mean the 2008 fiscal year? ;3
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:54 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Although Funimation's sales numbers for the quarter were lower than last year's, Navarre explains this by the fact that May of 2007 saw the launch of Afro Samurai, which went on to become the top-selling anime DVD of the entire year.


I highly doubt that, since the Ghibli stuff came out that same year. But if that's true, it proves my point that they're over-investing in too many titles right now, and they should stick with the winners.
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belisarius



Joined: 29 Jul 2005
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:11 pm Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
But if that's true, it proves my point that they're over-investing in too many titles right now, and they should stick with the winners.

How? It'll only work out as you say if they over paid for the licenses. Plenty of the shows they picked up are still profitable provided they got them for a reasonable price. Given the dire situation of ADV and Geneon's total failure, they probably got them for liquidation prices, pennies on the dollar so to speak.

There's certainly a lot to be said for riding your titles that sell in volume, but if you can get good margins off other shows that don't sell as many copies, there's nothing wrong with that either. That's the mistake (or one of them) that ADV made, they paid way too much for shows that earned far too little. ADV and Geneon have already done the leg work for Funi in terms of figuring out sales volume and that almost certainly factored into the purchase price of the licenses. This should work out well for them.
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Nebs



Joined: 19 Jul 2003
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:12 pm Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
I highly doubt that, since the Ghibli stuff came out that same year. But if that's true, it proves my point that they're over-investing in too many titles right now, and they should stick with the winners.

What? How can you doubt something that's a fact?

http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/12068.html

Beat all the Ghibli titles to say the least.
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Daimao Raki



Joined: 03 Jul 2008
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:17 pm Reply with quote
Funi is going to make nothing but pure profit off those Geneon and ADV titles. Shame, but that's business, and Gen knows how to play the game.
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Dargonxtc



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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 9:51 pm Reply with quote
Of course FUNimation is doing better than expected. They are the only ones left releasing anime on a consistent basis, while at the same time releasing in a format that the most people can enjoy. Which also has the convenient side effect of increasing the long-term value of a property. The market might be down, but it's not dead and people need a place to turn. Who didn't see this happening?
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nargun



Joined: 29 Mar 2006
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 11:28 pm Reply with quote
belisarius wrote:
GATSU wrote:
But if that's true, it proves my point that they're over-investing in too many titles right now, and they should stick with the winners.

How? It'll only work out as you say if they over paid for the licenses. Plenty of the shows they picked up are still profitable provided they got them for a reasonable price.


It's only net profitable if sales for Marginal Title B don't come largely or wholely at the expense of Mainstream Title A; market cannibalisation, same thing that did Tokyopop in, same thing that ADV had trouble with a few years back. And don't forget the fixed production costs [and that's most of them] or warehousing and logistics costs for each additional SKU.

Whether Funimation's in this position I'm not sure [although, the US anime market looks pretty saturated, and Funimation as a dominant player is more affected by market cannibalisation effects than the minors]. It's messy, and there's more to "are we making as much money as we can" than simply "is each thing in the black".
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Joe Mello



Joined: 31 May 2004
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 12:04 am Reply with quote
Kiriska wrote:
You mean the 2008 fiscal year? ;3

No.

Anyway, a 4% increase doesn't seem that significant. I guess if you compare it to other companies, it may be a good thing, but the number by itself seems to mean little.

FUNimation seems to be the only company that goes by the "spend money to make money" mantra, and it seems to be working on the surface. While all the other companies tend to reflect the "The R1 business is circling the drain" mood, they're the only ones that seem to be actively trying to find new cheese* so more power to them.

*-obscure book reference
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 12:14 am Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
Quote:
Although Funimation's sales numbers for the quarter were lower than last year's, Navarre explains this by the fact that May of 2007 saw the launch of Afro Samurai, which went on to become the top-selling anime DVD of the entire year.


I highly doubt that, since the Ghibli stuff came out that same year. But if that's true, it proves my point that they're over-investing in too many titles right now, and they should stick with the winners.


what? if anything, investing in those titles will make them more profitable, since they own a bigger portion of the industry. Geneon had some of the most sought after franchises (Hellsing, Black Lagoon, Higurashi), and Devil May Cry was a huge seller for ADV. they have pretty much cornered the market. unlike the competition, they have something for everyone.
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teh*darkness



Joined: 16 Feb 2007
Posts: 901
PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 12:47 am Reply with quote
belisarius wrote:
How? It'll only work out as you say if they over paid for the licenses. Plenty of the shows they picked up are still profitable provided they got them for a reasonable price. Given the dire situation of ADV and Geneon's total failure, they probably got them for liquidation prices, pennies on the dollar so to speak.

There's certainly a lot to be said for riding your titles that sell in volume, but if you can get good margins off other shows that don't sell as many copies, there's nothing wrong with that either. That's the mistake (or one of them) that ADV made, they paid way too much for shows that earned far too little. ADV and Geneon have already done the leg work for Funi in terms of figuring out sales volume and that almost certainly factored into the purchase price of the licenses. This should work out well for them.


How is it that no one seems to read and understand the announcements anymore? Funimation is now working with ARM/Sojitz/whatever the hell they're called, and had to pay whatever price they set for the licenses, not 'pennies on the dollar' from ADV. And they don't have any of the titles from Geneon. All they are doing is making the discs and shipping them. Geneon USA still holds the licenses. Yes, Funimation will make profit off of titles like Higurashi, BL, RM and others, but only part of it, not all of it.

Not to distract from the main point of this thread, which is that in a time of economic downturn, Navarre is still posting gains, albeit slight losses from their publishing companies. But the amount of overall increase in profit, and the relatively small decrease in sales from Funimation show a strong market share, if only because they have the biggest one right now. Smile

Keep it up Funi.

Daimao Raki wrote:
Funi is going to make nothing but pure profit off those Geneon and ADV titles. Shame, but that's business, and Gen knows how to play the game.


Um, what? Funimation has to pay for DVD authoring, marketing, sales and distribution for all the Geneon titles. How is that pure profit? And the titles they aquired through Sojitz had to be negotiated with ADV to have them continue production on them. So Funi now has to pay ADV to keep making dubs for shows Funi holds the licenses for. That doesn't sound like pure profit either.
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sanosuke32



Joined: 19 Dec 2007
Posts: 454
PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:02 am Reply with quote
teh*darkness wrote:


Daimao Raki wrote:
Funi is going to make nothing but pure profit off those Geneon and ADV titles. Shame, but that's business, and Gen knows how to play the game.


Um, what? Funimation has to pay for DVD authoring, marketing, sales and distribution for all the Geneon titles. How is that pure profit? And the titles they aquired through Sojitz had to be negotiated with ADV to have them continue production on them. So Funi now has to pay ADV to keep making dubs for shows Funi holds the licenses for. That doesn't sound like pure profit either.


Buddy, obviously they have to pay some people for their stuff, but why do you think they would do that if they wouldn't be getting quite the profit out of it. Would you do something if you didn't think you'd earn money from it. They didn't say that they don't have to pay a penny or anything, they were just saying that Funi will be making a big profit from what they've done.
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Wyvern



Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 1545
PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:38 am Reply with quote
Kiriska wrote:
You mean the 2008 fiscal year? ;3


Nah. Fiscal calendars are weird. The second half of 2008 is considered the first half of 2009, fiscally speaking.

WHY? No one knows, except for that guy on CNBC who angrily screams stock tips at you.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 2:11 am Reply with quote
v1cious wrote:

what? if anything, investing in those titles will make them more profitable, since they own a bigger portion of the industry.


Bigger portion of the pie only works if the pie isn't shrinking. Laughing
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wilson_x1999



Joined: 04 Aug 2006
Posts: 182
Location: Monterrey, Mexico
PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 2:13 am Reply with quote
This just shows how everything is better with Samuel L. Jackson in it
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504NOSON2
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Joined: 28 Jul 2008
Posts: 647
Location: Body:Santa Barbara, CA ~ Heart:New Orleans, LA
PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 3:05 am Reply with quote
One thing I can say about Funimation is that,their smart. They are going to take ADV and Geneon's failures and make a success story out of it. One thing they might want to do is what they've done before,what they've done years before the market entered this digital hell,and that's focus on a limited amount of shows. Ones that they know will be be hits and stop licensing every obscure title they can get their hands on. Cool
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