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NEWS AT TRANSLATORSCAFÉ.COM
Even when others are tying the knot, STAR prefers to stay single.Posted: September 23, 2005 Ramsen, Switzerland.STAR Group CEO Josef Zibung shares his position on the recent industry take-overs and how STAR prefers to stay single. The translation and localization market has been through some turbulent times in recent years; with new companies appearing on the scene; others forced to close, and a multitude of mergers and acquisitions. One of the key factors driving this is competition for technological innovation to maintain translation services. Two major recent events lend weight to this observation: firstly the SDL takeover of TRADOS and secondly the Lionbridge takeover of the Translation Technology department of Bowne Global Solutions. The fact that other companies are now switching over to the strategy successfully followed by STAR for 20 years - the combination of tools and services for the entire information process - is neither surprising nor alarming. In the wake of such events, there is no lack of speculation about the future of those companies not involved in these transactions. Reason enough, therefore, for STAR to make its position clear, to answer some questions and to pull the carpet from under false rumours. SDL / TradosThe takeover of TRADOS by SDL was announced on 8 July 2005. This move comes as no surprise. However, some of the figures being thrown around about this deal need to be put into perspective. Namely, some specialist publications have commented on this takeover in the light of the results of a poll conducted among LISA members (LISA=Localization Industry Standards Association) which suggests that 71% of those polled use Trados Workbench while 28% work with SDLX, i.e. a total of 99% of users. This creates the impression that all the other vendors - including STAR - are left to fight over a meagre 1% share of the market. This adding together of the ostensible market shares of individual vendors gives an entirely inaccurate picture for a number of reasons. Many subcontractors (translators) use a number of systems depending on the customer. If one were to exaggerate and assume that every translator uses three systems, then each vendor would have a market share of 100%. The truth of the matter will lie between these two extremes. However, this once again highlights the fact that such statements are largely worthless and are misused for marketing purposes.The assurance that both product lines - Trados and SDLX - will be continued and also will definitely be supported in future is intended to allay fears among users. In the long term, however, it is likely that one of the products will fall by the wayside, which will be painful for one of the existing groups of customers: will it hit the 28%, the 71% or perhaps even everyone? What is STAR doing?STAR will not exploit this situation by now bringing out cut-price versions of its own high-grade tools - this would not only diminish the financial investments of existing customers, but perhaps also shake their long-standing confidence in the STAR strategy. Rather, STAR offers all technical translators and companies the cost-neutral option, using existing conversion tools, of migrating their current translation memories or terminology to the time and tested, reliable Transit product line. This guarantees the reuse of existing data without additional investment while at the same time allowing the use of proven STAR concepts and technologies.Lionbridge / Bowne Global SolutionsAccording to an announcement made at the end of June 2005, Lionbridge is taking over the Translation Technology department of Bowne Global Solutions. This acquisition means that the second-biggest player in the market is gobbling up the previous market leader. Both vendors are active predominantly in the offshore localization market, which, although having the greatest growth potential, is also the most fiercely contested market and extremely price-critical. Lionbridge is today investing significant capital in this acquisition and will in future be forced to plough in yet further resources in order to carry through the process of integration, a process which is known to be difficult in such cases. It will be revealing how the stock market reacts to this move and what results come out of it in the long term.What is STAR doing?STAR is not making any acquisitions, is not being taken over and is not a candidate for mergers.There will be no change in the existing strategy: STAR will remain faithful to its proven concept of offering the latest developments as well as a task- and technology-oriented mode of working and will in future invest even more in the basic foundations of the technological information world. In this way, STAR, through its own efforts and without buying other firms, has evolved into a company with 775 permanent members of staff at 35 globally networked branches. The successful combination of experienced specialists and a tried-and-tested strategy will continue in the future to represent the only sure way of winning long-term market share and sales without neglecting customer needs. STAR will remain faithful to its policy of stability and healthy growth. The consolidated annual financial statements of the STAR Group for the 2004 fiscal year confirm the correctness of this approach: following stable growth in recent years, there was a double-digit percentage improvement in performance in 2004. We expect to exceed this growth in the current 2005 fiscal year. STAR can afford to look upon this shake-up in the translation industry not only with a shrug of its shoulders, but even with a twinkle in its eye: For is it not a merger of competitors which once again results in STAR - the biggest unlisted company in this sector - moving up yet another rung on the global ladder? Josef Zibung
CEO, President STAR Group About STAR: Headquartered in Ramsen Switzerland, STAR Group is one of the world's largest providers or multilingual services and technology. The company employs over 775 people in its 35 global offices. For more information on contact or corporate headquarters in STAR AG Switzerland: info@star-group.net For further press information, please contact:STAR AG, Switzerland, Jasmin Heinemann: +41 52 742 92 00 or email: Jasmin.heinemann@star-group.netNEW LANGUAGE PROFESSIONALS AND AGENCIES AT TRANSLATORSCAFÉ.COM |
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