In a strategic step to more effectively serve the needs of the emerging digital cinema industry, Thomson, the worldwide leader in video technologies, products and services and QUALCOMM Incorporated today announced that QUALCOMM has sold its equity interest in Technicolor Digital Cinema (TDC) to Thomson, the parent company of Technicolor, a move that results in sole Thomson ownership of the venture. Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed.
The agreement allows both entities to leverage Technicolor Digital Cinema's successful systems and service model while enabling each to focus on their respective core businesses - Technicolor in servicing the digital cinema needs of its customers and QUALCOMM in developing and producing innovative digital cinema technology and systems. The transaction is also consistent with Thomson's commitment to support content owners and network operators globally as they evaluate and embrace digital technologies.
"Many of the objectives of forming the joint venture company in 2000 have been met," said Gary Garland, Vice President and General Manager of the QUALCOMM Digital Media Division. "With the combination of Technicolor's service legacy to the entertainment industry and QUALCOMM's technical expertise in digital cinema enabling technologies, we hoped to move digital cinema forward by providing both systems and services specific to the digital cinema space. We have done that, and we've done it exceptionally well."
As part of the restructuring, Technicolor will acquire exclusive rights to manufacture, sell and service the multi-screen Theatre Management System (TMS) designed by QUALCOMM under the Technicolor Digital Cinema umbrella. In turn, QUALCOMM will continue to develop and market core digital cinema products and technologies, including decoder modules, encoders and conditional access systems (CAS) that are based on its ABSolute™ compression and decryption technology.
"This is a positive move that provides customers the freedom to independently select a service provider and a technology architecture that best fits their needs," said Dave Elliott, President of Technicolor Entertainment Services and Chief Executive Officer of Technicolor Digital Cinema. "Our intent has always been to offer the industry options. By restructuring the joint venture, we expand customer choice while at the same time restoring Technicolor's legacy to serve multiple architectures and enhancing QUALCOMM's ability to market their advanced digital cinema technologies."
Technicolor and QUALCOMM will continue to work closely together as QUALCOMM digital cinema technologies and products emerge, including ABSolute image compression technology and advanced security architecture as well as QUALCOMM's digital cinema decoder modules, encoder systems, and conditional access equipment for the industry. Technicolor Digital Cinema will continue to provide and support these technologies and products, but will also offer other technologies to meet industry demand and requirements.
Since launching in 2000, Technicolor Digital Cinema has evolved to offer the industry's most comprehensive set of digital cinema services and solutions, including compression, encryption, distribution, storage, and scheduling/playback as well as in-theatre management systems, maintenance and support. Technicolor Digital Cinema has installed and maintained digital cinema delivery technology and equipment through QUALCOMM-designed Auditorium Management Systems in nearly 40 theatres worldwide for first-run showings of digital movies. To date, Technicolor Digital Cinema has processed, packaged, delivered and downloaded 42 motion picture titles for a total of more than 50,000 showings to commercial audiences, including four titles that were released using the world's first end-to-end encryption approach, provided by QUALCOMM's technology. Recent encrypted digital cinema releases include Finding Nemo, Pirates of the Caribbean, X Men 2 and Spy K
