3D movies have, believe it or not, been around for nearly a century with the first 3D movie, "The Power of Love," debuting in 1922. Even though 3D makes a comeback every few decades, with a concerted push for 3D televisions for consumers in recent years, it has struggled to gain mainstream acceptance. There are a number of reasons for the lack of adoption, for which Forbes contributor John Archer succinctly pinned to both producers and manufacturers in an article late last year titled, "The Great 3D Fiasco - How Hollywood And The AV Industry Slaughtered Their Own Cash Cow."
Is it too late for 3D home entertainment to surge and meet original expectations?
There are certainly plenty of skeptics, most undoubtedly for which SENSIO Technologies (TSX-Venture:SIO) is not one. The Montreal-based company is a pioneer in stereoscopic 3D imaging and 3D content offering to the home; its award-winning technology, SENSIO® Hi-Fi 3D, can be found in millions of products for the cinema, distribution and consumer electronics markets worldwide. More recently,
SENSIO began offering its video-on-demand (VOD) service 3DGO!TM, coined "the first 3D-dedicated service offering Hollywood blockbuster movies directly to consumers."
Movies and documentaries offered include hits like Frozen, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Despicable Me 2, Big Hero 6, The Lorax, Finding Nemo, Cars, James Cameron-directed Ghosts of the Abyss and more.
SENSIO has partnered with some major players in the consumer electronics business, including Vizio and more recently LG and Samsung, to deploy the 3DGO! VOD service on their 3D Smart TVs. Interestingly, while clearly noting challenges facing the home 3D industry, Mr. Archer points in his article to LG and Samsung as providing good experiences in 3D, saying "my recent experience with the LG 65UB9800 TV and some top-end Samsung TVs has suggested that TV technology is finally capable of bringing 3D up to the sort of performance level it needs to be."
SENSIO’s Samsung launch is expected in the second half of 2015 in North America and will cover all Smart TVs sold since 2012, which are also 3D capable, including Samsung's 2015 SUHD TV models.
At the end of 2014, 3DGO! became available in the United States on connected LG CINEMA 3D TVs, with the application offered through LG’s WebOS platform. Two weeks ago, SENSIO launched 3DGO! in Canada, making its service available across the country to consumers, starting with owners of LG 3D televisions.
On Wednesday, SENSIO announced that it has renewed its 3D VOD content license agreement with Paramount Pictures. Under the terms of the new agreement, 3DGO!™ users will continue to have access to blockbuster titles such as "World War Z" and "Star Trek Into Darkness," which have collectively generated more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office, and SENSIO will also have the opportunity to add recent box office hits and other upcoming theatrical releases from Paramount to the 3DGO!™ lineup. The new pact also covers extending Paramount titles into Canada for the Canadian 3DGO!™ service.
SENSIO doesn’t exactly need the home 3D market to abruptly reverse course from declining 3D TV sales, as it has plenty of headroom to capture more of the existing market, is partnered with industry leaders and licenses other technology in the space, including via a partnership with Wi-LAN (TSX:WIN). However, a slow shift in trend certainly would help the company to bolster sales and head closer to profitability. In the latest quarter, the number of registered users of 3DGO! increased to 23,363 from 21,634, even against the backdrop of the launch to LG customers not being completed as of March 31, 2015.
The expansion was attributable to users of 3D TVs made by Vizio, a leading TV maker that dropped its 3D line last year. With LG and Samsung now in the mix and a move into Canadian markets underway, investors will be looking to how this translates to the top and
bottom lines, as well as resurgence 3D popularity.
