Gallente pressure on Caldari high-tech market
THE FORGE. Caldari suppliers' scarcity and fierce Gallente competition is slowly strangling Strata Corp, CEO David Simmons says.
In what caused a bit more than a mild shock to the Caldari high-tech sector's pride, the CEO of the The Forge-based transmitter manufacturer Strata Corp admitted that his corporation is finding it increasingly harder to find willing suppliers at the correct price. Coupled with fierce competition from Gallente importers and a stagnant market for their product "we are having a hard struggle trying to maintain a healthy profit margin", Simmons said at the Caldari Tech Convention.
"Although Caldari technology still maintains its edge and is second to none, we are experiencing as of late increased market pressure from Gallente importers who have been steadily decreasing their prices. In particular small up and coming planet-based Gallente corporations in the transmitter business such as RenoTech and Soullier Laboratories, while still a step behind us technology-wise, are saturating the market with such competitive prices that many of our less picky clients are gradually turning to them as their suppliers".
According to Simmons when asked about the price edge of Gallente products, "although we do not have as of yet the data to back it up, our preliminary analysis suggest that the high-tech planetbound manufacturing sector in the Federation has found an expanding pool of cheap yet skilled labour among the scores of Minmatars engineers and trained personnel emigrating from the Republic towards Gallente space in the past months. In turn allowing these Gallente manufacturers to curb down their production costs and offer reduced final prices for their products".
Soullier Laboratories PR Director Anaiolen Oruvei, present at the Tech Convention, refused to comment about the company's recruitment and staffing policy, mentioning instead that "SoullLab has been engaged in a thorough review of its manufacturing process and methods for the past few years, which has allowed us to produce more with less, expand rapidly, and adjust our pricing accordingly". RenoTech executives, also present at the convention, were not available for comment.
Finding adequate suppliers in the State is key in Strata Corp's renewed strategy to revert their downward trend. "We are reviewing our supply chain strategy and adapting to current market conditions. We shall carry on and try our best to give our customers the best quality coupled with the lowest possible prices," said Simmons, who also announced a 15% reduction of the company's workforce in the following weeks. "We are acutely aware that the risk of liquidation of our company looms over us, but as always among Caldari we will use adverse odd as an incentive to push us even harder."
SC shares went down 3.2% after Simmons' comments, with Soullier Laboratories up 0.3%