Videndum is positioned at the heart of the global content creation market, with market-leading, premium brands in defensible niches.
The content creation market continues to have good medium-term prospects, with structural growth drivers, and Videndum is uniquely positioned to benefit. Although the cine and scripted TV market is taking more time than anticipated to recover from the strikes, and the consumer and ICC segments of the market are being impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment, we expect that the demand for, and investment in, original content (e.g. for live news, broadcast sport, reality and scripted TV shows, films, digital visual content for e-commerce and vlogging, etc.) will grow in the medium term.
We focus on the growth areas of the content creation market, and we have recently increased our product offering in the adjacent vertical market of audio capture. We estimate that c.75% of the Group’s business is exposed to five main structural market growth drivers which we believe remain valid in the medium-to-long term. These are: (1) internet/e-commerce; (2) subscription TV/original content creation; (3) video sharing platforms such as TikTok/YouTube; (4) live streaming; and (5) increasing environmental consciousness in our markets.
Organic growth is driven by these five drivers underpinned by technology advancement which can reduce set up time, lower operating costs and unlock creativity. This drives demand for new and replacement products. Sustained R&D investment is key to enabling Videndum’s premium brands to maintain their already strong market positions and, in places, gain share.
*management estimates
The internetplus
Retail e-commerce drives demand for digital visual content as new products need to be photographed and filmed frequently to be published online, for example across the fashion, food, real estate and hospitality industries.
We estimate that c.30% of the Group’s revenue is exposed to retail e-commerce, which we serve with intuitive products used in studios and a growing number of enterprise facilities. This drives demand for our professional photography and videography equipment, including supports, backgrounds, lighting and carrying solutions, mainly benefiting our Media Solutions Division.
Subscription TVplus
Spending on original content creation for subscription TV channels like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ drives demand for our equipment.
In North America, over 50 new sound stages are scheduled for construction in 2024, providing hundreds of thousands of square feet of new production space which will need to be equipped. And in the UK, numerous projects are either underway or planned to invest in sound stages which will add millions of square feet of new production space.
We estimate that c.30% of the Group’s revenue is exposed to subscription TV, including: our video transmission and monitoring systems, and camera accessories in Creative Solutions; lighting equipment, mobile power and supports in Production Solutions; and supports and audio capture in Media Solutions.
TikTok and YouTubeplus
There has been significant growth in vloggers and influencers creating and sharing video and audio content on social media platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. We estimate that there are more than 40 million vloggers (with a following of over 1,000 people) who share and monetise their videos or podcasts. Improving the quality of their content is critical to their success – and that is what Videndum products help them do.
We estimate that c.10% of the Group’s revenue is exposed to vloggers and influencers who use our JOBY supports, lights and microphones, and our backgrounds to create high-quality content. The JOBY customers of today will potentially transition to Videndum’s other premium brands, as they become the film-makers, broadcasters and professional photographers of the future.
Live streamingplus
Live streaming of video has grown strongly across multiple verticals to maintain communications and facilitate remote collaboration.
For example, governments, schools, houses of worship and businesses rely on high-quality, secure, zero or low delay video transmission to communicate with their communities, customers and employees.
This market growth driver accounts for c.5% of the Group’s revenue.
Increasing environmental consciousness in our marketsplus
The growing pressure to become a responsible business and adhere to regulatory environmental policies has led to industrywide replacement cycles, providing Videndum with a number of opportunities to develop environmentally friendly products.
One example of this is Anton/Bauer’s Salt-E Dog, the first sodium battery designed and built for the motion picture and television industry. Its emission-free operation not only reduces the industry’s carbon footprint but also eliminates noise pollution, and uses 100% recyclable sodium cells, making it an efficient alternative to traditional petrol and diesel generators.
Artificial Intelligence plus
Like any transformational technology, AI brings the opportunity to accelerate product development cycles through innovation.
In cine/scripted TV and broadcast TV, AI is seen as a key enabler to greater production efficiency, particularly through increased automation in studio equipment (cameras, prompting, lighting and cranes) and automated talent tracking, some of which we are already addressing with our Production Solutions Division through our AI tracking and speech recognition technology. In professional photography and live streaming, AI is already empowering faster post-production. These applications provide growth opportunities for Videndum.
There is a risk that over time, some professional photography and low-end videography may be replaced by artificially generated content. Internal studies have identified a potential risk on stock image libraries for commercial application; these are estimated to account for less than 10% of total professional photography being shot. However, AI development is evolving rapidly, and given how new this technology is, these estimates are prone to change significantly both in terms of the size and timing of impact.