5th New Product Launch
Photo-Me International PLC
2 October 2000
PHOTO-ME INTERNATIONAL IN 5TH NEW PRODUCT LAUNCH OF 2000
Big savings on mobile telephone charges possible
PMI will shortly start to deploy in France an ingenious
addition to its remote retailing portfolio, the core of
which is some 20,000 photobooths worldwide - the
print@call machine, which will occupy less than 0.4 sq
m, be located in high footfall areas and sell four
products and services:
* pre-paid telephone charge cards;
* business and invitation cards;
* e-mail; and
* advertising.
The telephone cards will be sold on behalf of Intercall,
a publicly quoted telco in France and the French leader
in pre-paid telephone charge cards, which, pursuant to a
two year contract, will pay PMI a fixed amount per
machine per month plus a substantial percentage of the
turnover over a certain figure for this new, and for
Intercall cheaper, channel of distribution. The cards,
which can be used in connection with both fixed lines,
public and private, and Intercall mobile telephones, give
access to cheap rates - with savings to the consumer of
up to 40% on mobile telephones and without the commitment
and expense of a subscription - assist control of
telephone charges and represent an attractive gift.
Initially, 300 machines will be rolled out at a rate of
50 machines per month, starting in February 2001, but
there is a stated mutual intention to deliver over 1,000
machines in France.
The business and invitation card facility will represent
a material upgrade on PMI s existing business card
machine in terms of quality and speed. 30 standard size
business cards will cost FF30.
E-mails can be sent or received, and e-mail accounts can
be created.
A 15' square plasma screen on the top of the machine will
be available for advertising, something which is likely
to be particularly attractive to telephone companies.
Such advertising screens are proving a generator of
significant revenues for PhotoPlanet, PMI s photobooth
with Internet access.
The print@call machines, which will be manufactured at
Photo-Me s factory at Grenoble in France, will both
replace PMI s existing business card machines, of which
there are some 1,000 in France and some 7,000 worldwide,
and be installed in new sites. Many of the machines
will be sited adjacent to PMI s photobooths and they will
be maintained by the same personnel. The print@call
machines look much more modern, in part through being
equipped with a touchscreen, and are easier to operate
than their predecessors. With their numerous advantages,
they can be expected to yield a useful incremental
profit.
This is PMI s fifth significant new product launch of
2000, following:
* the PhotoPlanet photobooth with Internet access (in
jv with BT);
* the minibooth reduced size (0.7 sq m) photobooth;
* the DKS digital photo printing minilab (which
recently won an important OEM contract from Eastman
Kodak); and
* the self-service digital photo printing kiosk (in jv
with SanDisk).
Serge Crasnianski, PMI s CEO, stated 'There can t be many
companies of PMI s size that will achieve five
significant new product launches in 2000. The print@call
machine exemplifies PMI s strategy of offering additional
services per site, of moving increasingly into the world
of communications and of exploiting Internet technology
with immediate profit. Roll out in other countries will
follow once telephone card partners have been signed up.'
Enquiries:
Photo-Me International plc 01372-453399
Serge Crasnianski (CEO)
Bankside Consultants Limited 020-7220 7477
Charles Ponsonby
Photographs:
A photograph of PMI s CEO, Serge Crasnianski, together
with one of the machines, taken at the recent Photokina
exhibition in Cologne and printed on a DKS machine, is
available from Bankside Consultants.
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