Posted Nov 20, 2007 at 01:36PM by Tim Y. Listed in: Nintendo DS, Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Games for Windows Tags: Atari, Michael Pachter
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Michael Pachter prediction: Atari may be demoted to distributor - Image 1As you guys will recall, Atari's Q2 2007 financial reports indicate the the company's taken a literal pounding, losing US$ 7.7 million in the period ending September of 2007.

In light of this, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter made his predictions, which include the possibility of Atari dropping its publishing business, and reducing itself to game distribution.
 
As Pachter explained, the company predicts that it would be expecting fewer game releases for the fiscal year of 2008. This move is expected to reduce revenues, with Pachter further commenting that Atari was having problems cutting costs accordingly. As for Pachter's statement regarding Atari's possible drop to a distributor:

We are concerned that lack of investment in R&D and marketing (along with the divestiture of many of its brands) could limit Atari’s ability to effectively compete as the next generation consoles begin to ramp. It is likely, that the company will cease its publishing operations altogether and become a pure distribution business. However, in order to profitably do so, we believe that it must cut its staffing levels by over 50%.


On a more positive note, Pachter stated that  "if the company is able to get through FY:08 without compromising its overall financial well-being, it may be able to return to profitability in FY:09." Pachter further warned that this possibility was a "highly speculative scenario."


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4 Comments


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   by shabghai360 - 2007-11-21
 » C'mon Atari

I personally wish Atari well And hope that they can indeed survive.
Atari gave so much many years ago and inturn have been copied and plundered.
I do not want Atari to end up as a museum article over what was as they are an important part of what is today.

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   by Mister Common Sense - 2007-11-21
 » .

Atari was always a poorly run company with crappy, poorly supported consoles and only a handful of decent games. Oh well, it's not like they didn't deserve it.


   Re: shabghai360 - 2007-11-21
 » ??

Atari may have been poorly run but it was using a risc processor to get a gaming console on the market when there was no real knowledge or expertise at the time. They were trying even before people had the commodore and were downloading files via the radio to cassettes. So they do deserve some credit and support.
Go back in time and pong is the father to todays high end console games.
IMO its a lot of bad luck and I disagree that they deserve it.
   by na2rul - 2007-11-21
 » atari Transformers

was my all time favourite. i wasnt even into transformers.

not sure if atari can pull thru.



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