Avatar to revive film firm's fortunes

From left: Sam Worthington, director James Cameron, Zoe Saldana, producer Jon Landau, and Sigourney Weaver pose with the award for best motion picture drama for "Avatar" at the 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California. The 3-D display market will post annual revenue growth of 38 percent, climbing to $22 billion by 2018. AP

TOKYO: Arisawa Manufacturing Co, the Japanese maker of display film, expects the success of James Cameron's Avatar to spur adoption of 3-D and help end losses at the company next year, its chief executive said.

"The Avatar effect is giving the industry a push," said Chief Executive Officer Sanji Arisawa. The company's 3-D business should generate sales of about 2.5 billion yen ($27.7 million) in the year starting April 1 and help Arisawa break even, he said.

Avatar, the 3-D adventure directed by James Cameron, became the second-highest grossing movie of all time in the US and Canada last week. Arisawa expects interest in movies made in the format to bolster sales of 3-D TVs, which Panasonic Corp's North American chief executive officer Yoshi Yamada this month projected will outpace demand for high-definition sets.

Arisawa, based in Joetsu City, northern Japan, climbed 52 percent in Tokyo trading last year, outpacing the 19 percent gain in the benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average. The stock has risen 28 percent this year.

Sony Corp, which forecast hardware related to 3-D will generate more than 1 trillion yen in annual revenue the year ending March 2013, plans to begin selling 3-D TVs and Blu-ray disc players this summer. Samsung Electronics Co, Panasonic Corp and LG Electronics Inc also plan to sell 3-D sets.

The 3-D display market will post annual revenue growth of 38 percent, climbing to $22 billion by 2018, researcher DisplaySearch said in a statement earlier this month.

3-D displays

Arisawa, which supplies Acer Inc and Hyundai IT Corp with film used on some 3-D displays, forecasts annual sales at the business will climb to as high as 7 billion yen within two years.

The company expects losses in the 12 months ending March 31 to widen 7 percent to 3 billion yen from 2.8 billion a year earlier, according to Arisawa's latest financial statements.

Revenue will fall 4.4 percent to 28.2 billion yen. The chief executive didn't give an estimate for third-quarter earnings, which the company is scheduled to report tomorrow.

Arisawa makes film that allows viewers to watch 3-D images using eyeglasses that are lighter than the active-shutter type most TV makers have adopted, the executive said. Demand for the company's product will be driven by commercial customers, who would prefer the lower cost of its 3-D spectacles, Arisawa said.

"It doesn't make sense to use shutter-type glasses at a sports bar," he said. "At 6,000 yen a pop, if you handed them out to drunks, it's pretty easy to imagine the glasses getting thrown around when their team loses."