The German industry’s “vital statistics,” released ahead of today’s IMA show, revealed that turnover from the country’s 263,000 AWP machines actually went down in 2013 from €4.5bn to €4.46bn.
The number of machines in operation fell very slightly from 265,000. Taxes taken from the industry, however, rose from €580m to €700m.
Other statistics from Germany show that the business remains overwhelmingly an AWP-dominated trade. The base market in pinball machines remained constant at 2,100, internet terminals fell slightly from 21,000 to 20,500, kiddie rides from 2,500 to 2,400 and video games fell slightly from 10,000 to 9,800. Sports games, pool tables, air hockey’s, etc, were fairly stable at 18,000 (18,500 in 2011).
The picture shows Paul Gauselmann, (third from the left), head of the Gauselmann Group and president of the VDAI, the German trade association, with a panel of politicians and legal and compulsive gambling experts, holding a debate on the current legal situation in Germany for the gaming machine industry, before a crowded audience of industry members and large numbers of the media, national and local press and TV crews.
