AMIKO s Start. Business Voucher Direct Contact to Sales Manager. TELE-satellite Magazine

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1 COMPANY REPORT 该独家报道由高级编辑所作 Receiver Manufacturer AMIKO, Hungary AMIKO s Start their own production in Hungary direct sales offices in all central European countries intensive cooperation with component supplier FULAN automatic receiver software updates and constant further development in-house R&D team and in-house technical service TELE-satellite Magazine Business Voucher Direct Contact to Sales Manager 128 TELE-satellite Global Digital TV Magazine 06-07/ /2011 TELE-satellite Global Digital TV Magazine 129

2 COMPANY REPORT Receiver Manufacturer AMIKO, Hungary How a New Receiver Brand Comes Into Being ë Budapest In the last issue of TELE-satellite we introduced the first Dual Boot receiver from AMIKO: the user can choose which operating software to use in his receiver. This is a remarkable innovation in that it separates the hardware (the receiver itself) from the software (used to operate the receiver). But there s more: Spark was put into service for the first time with any receiver. This not only provides for automatic receiver updates but it also allows the manufacturer to directly communicate with the end user. The applications for this new technology appear to be numerous; it s really not known as yet how far reaching this can be. But who s behind AMIKO? In a newly developed industrial zone northeast of Hungary s capital Budapest, AMIKO has its home. It consists of an administration building and an attached warehouse. AMIKO ships its receivers from here to countries in central Europe. AMIKO moved into this brand new building only at the end of 2010; before that AMIKO was located in downtown Budapest. AMIKO s founders have known each other for quite some time: We met back in 1995, remembers Financial Manager Zsolt Harangi. They were both involved in the satellite industry with different companies. Back then it was all still analog technology, recalls József Zsimán. Then the digital age began and at some point the two of them felt the time was right to take things into their own hands. We started with four employees, explains József Zsimán. Today there are 14 employees in their Budapest office. Their sales have expanded to include customers in neighboring countries where you ll also find the remainder of AMIKO s employees: 17 in the Czech sales office, eight in Romania, four in Serbia as well as six more in local sales offices in Hungary. And let s not forget the employees in the receiver production line. Since production is not continuous, the number of employees varies between 20 and 40. When the business first started, the two partners focused on being a satellite wholesaler. They distributed digital receivers from a variety of manufacturers as well as everything else an installer needs: LNBs, dishes, multiswitches and cable. This business still makes up a part of their sales today. In % of our sales were whole- The building in the foreground contains the offices for sales, administration, R&D and service. Their products are shipped from the attached warehouse. The company is ISO certified by TÜV. 130 TELE-satellite Global Digital TV Magazine 06-07/2011

3 1 sale with the other 50% consisting of our own receiver brands, explains Financial Manager Zsolt Harangi. For 2011 though the picture looks quite different: We expect for the current year that our receiver brands will make up 70% of our sales while our wholesale business will drop to 30%, comments Zsolt Harangi. The AMIKO brand name is very new. József Zsimán explains, In 2010 we founded two brand names: AMIKO for retail and SYNAPS for operators. SYN- APS offers DVB-C and DVB-T receivers for cable and other programming providers. AMIKO is a brand name for the retail market. We are working very close together with FULAN in China. They provide us with most of our receiver components, explains Marketing Manager József Zsimán. The receivers are assembled on a production AMIKO Receiver Manufacturer, Hungary line in Budapest. We have achieved excellent quality in our production, he continues, The components from FU- LAN are already of the highest quality and our own quality assurance team checks it all once again. Even more important with having your own production line and your own receiver brand is having the customer rely on you. In their many years of experience the two owners have seen Company Details Engineers in Research & Development Total Number of Employees Average Turnover (Previous, This, Next Year Estimates) Mio uro Production Certificates ISO, RoHS, DVB Production Categories own brands AMIKO, SYNAPS - cooperation with FULAN Main Products Receiver for DVB-S/S2, DVB-T/MPEG-4, DVB-C, award winning product Dual Boot Linux receiver for DVB-S/S2 and DVB-T it all before: suppliers shifted their production elsewhere and customers would contact the dealer and complain why they can t get any spare parts or service anymore. This can t happen with our products, comments József Zsimán, We have a fully stocked spare parts warehouse from which we can deliver any possible component for every receiver to our customers. We ll be able to do this for years to come. If you control your own production line, you can make statements like that. But this was only one of the reasons why AMIKO decided to produce their own products. József Zsimán sees it all realistically: We find ourselves in stiff competition with other providers but over the long term success will only be for those who provide the best products and offer the best service. According to József Zsimán, the decision on what receiver the customer uses doesn t rest with the customer but rather with the installer or dealer: just from using the receivers themselves, installers and dealers can recommend a specific brand that provides the best service. It doesn t help the situation if a customer comes back with complaints after only a short time. József Zsimán says that the accuracy of his statements is proven simply by the consistent, short-term growth of his young company AMIKO. This increase is above all the result of the speedy development of AMIKO receiver sales. The geographical distribution of these sales is especially interesting. Oddly enough the home market in Hungary is not the biggest; in fact, at about 20%, The Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania are at the top with Hungary in fourth place at about 15%. The fact that AMIKO is so well placed in these countries is due in large part to their active business policy: We have sales offices in The Czech Republic, Romania, Serbia and even here in Hungary, explains József Zsimán why sales are so good in these countries By sheer coincidence, József Zsimán received a telephone call at that very moment in our interview: the AMIKO technicians found a software bug in the newest version and immediately forwarded this information to the component provider FULAN in China. It s 2PM in Budapest and within minutes an answer came from China: We re working on it. József Zsimán looks up from his mobile telephone: This is exactly what makes our cooperation with FULAN so perfect: immediate reaction to a problem despite the six-hour time difference with China! AMIKO and FULAN are two companies that are perfect for each other; energetic production and distribution here with component manufacturing there. In other central European countries AMIKO has very tight relationships with wholesalers. József Zsimán lists them: This includes Bulgaria, Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovakia, Greece, Slovenia as well as the three Baltic states. And that s not all: In 2011 we ll be begin distribution in the Ukraine with a local dealer there and in 2012 we plan to go into Albania. AMIKO is continuously in expansion mode. But we weren t only interested in how AMIKO is spread out geographically; we also wanted to know what they have planned for their receivers. This was a question that József Zsimán was only too happy to answer: In the 1. Marketing Manager of AMIKO is József Zsimán. 2. Zsolt Harangi is happy with the sales figures. He is AMIKO s Financial Manager. 3. Márton Lengyel is Sales Manager and runs a team of 6 Sales Representatives. 4. Beata Karsai is responsible for sales and logistics. 132 TELE-satellite Global Digital TV Magazine 06-07/ /2011 TELE-satellite Global Digital TV Magazine 133

4 1 2 third quarter the AMIKO ALIEN.2 will appear with an even more powerful chipset. Aside from that, we are always expanding our receiver software with new features. József Zsimán highlights these features for us that should appear later this year: Web browser, WiFi, Flash Support, NTFS, USB Hub and Messaging. Owners of AMIKO ALIEN receivers should be happy; these new features will appear on their own in their receivers thanks to the automatic software update feature. Can we expect to see any other surprises from AMIKO? József Zsimán reveals a little from their second receiver line, SYNAPS, that are used by cable and programming providers: By the end of 2011 we will also be offering receivers with chipset pairing. In this way AMIKO can service 1. The R&D team in the well-stocked engineering room. 2. An AMIKO technician checking for problems. Once a problem has been localized, production is adjusted to prevent the problem from reappearing. 134 TELE-satellite Global Digital TV Magazine 06-07/2011

5 The large warehouse right next to AMIKO s administration building. Not only are AMIKO receivers shipped from here, but you ll also find satellite components stored here (LNBs, dishes, multiswitches, cable) that AMIKO as a wholesaler ships to installers and shops. 136 TELE-satellite Global Digital TV Magazine 06-07/2011

6 programming providers that also use this technology. would be to have a separate receiver. comments József Zsimán. Are the two AMIKO managers at all concerned that TV manufacturers will someday integrate receivers into their products? As soon as more functions are needed or an expanded frequency range needs to be received, for example, satellite TV, then the only solution He is convinced that AMIKO with its receivers and above all with its line of new ALIEN receivers will carve a path that will allow it to continuously expand and bring with it extreme growth potential. We can only agree with that! 138 TELE-satellite Global Digital TV Magazine 06-07/ The satellite dishes on AMIKO s roof have been installed in a very organized fashion. Zsolt Bornemissza is the R&D team leader and explains to us what s to be seen here: Here you ll find five 85cm antennas, each fitted with a DiSEqC motor. There are also two 1.25-meter dishes, one with an actuator motor and the other fixed in place and aligned with 36E and equipped with a circular Ku-band LNB /2011 TELE-satellite Global Digital TV Magazine 139

7 A Toroidal antenna with 9 Quattro LNBs rounds out this dream satellite antenna setup. 2.All of the satellite antenna cables find their way to this switching cabinet. The antenna connections come into the top half of the cabinet with all of the output lines coming out the lower half of the cabinet going to each work station and to the demonstration monitors. In this way each work station and each monitor can be supplied with an individual satellite signal: you just have to plug into the proper bridging cable. The easy-toread labeling on all the connections makes it all simple and easy to use. Fabrication at AMIKO A look in the production area: AMIKO employees assemble the receivers here. 2. The completed receivers are individually tested before they are packed. 140 TELE-satellite Global Digital TV Magazine 06-07/2011