Macau Business Daily – Macau could need as many as 7,000 new gaming machines each year until 2017 to cater for the next wave of Cotai casino openings, says a new report commissioned from Macau Polytechnic Institute.
The document ‘Research Report on Macao Gaming Industry’ was launched at the Macao Gaming Summit conference held during the Macao Gaming Show last week.
The 7,000 new-to-market estimate is likely to be a gross increase rather than a net increase. Underperforming machines regularly get pulled from the highly competitive Macau casino floors. The attrition rate last year was as high as 20 percent suggests the report.
According to data from the local regulator, the Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau, the number of slot machines in Macau fell 10 percent sequentially in the nine months to September 30, from the 16,406 recorded in the first quarter to 14,775 in the third quarter.
On November 26 two Mocha Clubs – part of a chain of parlours mainly marketed to local players – will close according to a company announcement. It’s not so far been stated if the machines there will be re-assigned to other Mocha venues or possibly to parent Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd’s casinos.
The good news market-wide, is that judged year-on-year, slot revenue actually climbed nearly 13 percent in the third quarter, to approximately 3.56 billion patacas (US$446 million) from nearly 3.15 billion patacas in the equivalent 2012 period.
Zeng Zhonglu, an associate professor at the institute and main author of the report, told Business Daily he sees “great potential” for new machine installations market in the city – especially as more mainland visitors start to see slot machines as entertainment.
His study was presented at the new trade event, organised by the Macau Gaming Equipment Manufacturers Association and held at the Venetian Macao.
The document said the expansion by the territory’s six gaming operators on the Cotai strip – with the first wave of new properties opening between 2015 and 2018 – will create demand for a net increase in the market of up to 10,000 new machines.
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