Christie opens Shenzhen production facility

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/asia/news/e3i90084bf05b70386f17ed7a302b5cd01c

 

New plant will create opportunities in Asia

By Jonathan Landreth

June 16, 2010, 08:56 AM ET

SHANGHAI -- Cinema projection company Christie Digital Systems has opened a new factory in the southern China city of Shenzhen to meet growing global demand, much of it in China.

The company, run by Jack Kline, president and COO, expects the new factory to help double its output, the company said in a statement released during the 13th Shanghai International Film Festival on Wednesday.

Cypress, California-based Christie has more than 12,000 digital cinema projectors installed worldwide, including over 2,000 4K-ready digital cinema projectors. The company claims more than a 65% share of the worldwide digital cinema market.

Much of the company’s market growth will come now from China, where pent up demand for entertainment in the swelling middle class boosted boxoffice 43% in 2009. Chinese cinema builders are adding nearly two screens per day, mostly in dozens of second- and third-tier Chinese cities of at least a million people.

“Our new Shenzhen facility sets a new standard for production capability, manufacturing excellence and speed to market,” said Kline.

Christie’s new factory in Shenzhen, one of China's largest cities with 16 million people, will ramp up output of its digital cinema projectors to screen 2D and 3D movies.  

Solaria projectors are scheduled to roll off the Shenzhen assembly line in July, and the factory initially will feed the Asia Pacific market, freeing up capacity at Christie’s North American plant, the company said in a statement.

Ihor Stech, Christie's vp of operations, said the new factory was ideally located because the company gets many of the raw materials for its projects from Asia, making the plant more efficient.

“Assembly in China opens up significant new opportunities and shipping flexibility for Christie that will allow us to better serve all our customers around the world,” Stech said.

The company hopes to save on import duties, and speed its time to market, both inside China and, because of Shenzhen’s proximity to the port at Hong Kong, to the rest of the world.
Christie said the Shenzhen facility would adhere to quality standards and manufacturing principles used in its North American plants and would increase its staff and add a second assembly line in the coming months.