June10 , 2008

SAU PAULO, Brazil…“South America’s New York "!!

The SALEX SHOW took place from June 4th to June 6th in Sau Paulo, Brazil in the Transamerica Expo Center. Overall, it has been quite a pleasant show with focus on pure amusement without any distractions from gambling.

UNIS @ the show

According to local operators, the show has scaled down tremendously compared to before when gambling machines and amusement used to mix together. The amusement industry here seems to be a tad stronger but there are still many elements and dark clouds that could affect the industry.

The largest factor would be the extremely high duties involved resulting in products here being doubled or tripled from what was sold in the USA, etc. Another would be government intervention and their ever changing policies. When it comes to policies, if you think Italian market is bad, you have not seen anything yet! One product could be deemed illegal in one district and okay in another. Recently, raids were taken on LAI Stackers, banning them as illegal games and this obviously caused some problems for distributor and buyers alike.

Brazilian market has been dominated by Italian suppliers and local suppliers. This is rightly so as the Italian manufacturers of kiddy rides and rides are willing to adopt an aggressive stance by offering terms and financing to the operators. Memo Park, Cogan, Motoi and many others were at Salex showing their wares.

Sau Paulo is an interesting city for a foreign visitor. It is always bustling and is a true Southern Hemisphere Cosmopolitan city. Shopping malls here are opening everywhere with a high standard towards development. The retail shops are always full and foot traffic abundant in each mall. Rent though, is quite high per sq. meter and this can be reflected by the price tags that all goods carry. With high rent and even higher duties, the price tags of products here can really make one cringe. Can you imagine Nintendo Wii being sold for USD $1500? Given the circumstances, it is no wonder the black market in Brazil is so active.

Nevertheless, interesting countries like many others tend to have dark clouds hanging over the expansion of the amusement industry. Will the government lift the high duties? Will tight government controls on the operations allow operators to breathe better and enjoy a stable operation? Well we certainly hope that would be the case.
…And did I even mention the traffic here? Never mind......Sau Paulo in my mind is still a gem!