An innovative video technology company, Atomos develops versatile handheld video recorders and monitors amongst other things.
The ability to decompress data from the suite of memory size-restricted cameras in the marketplace onto an Atomos omni-channel device allows users to transform low-resolution digital data into high-quality video files.
High quality videos can then be coupled with the company’s in-demand “Ninja” device which is designed to record directly into popular editing formats such as Apple’s ProRes and Avid’s DNxHD platforms.
Atomos says its products empower content creators, making video production simple and creative. It has expanded its range to include entry-level models suitable for influencers, amateurs and hobbyists, while maintaining its high-end range of next generation models for the more serious players.
Notably, Atomos has an interesting backstory with a connection between it and tech giant Apple.
Apple was enjoying a growing reputation as its Apple Mac desktops became the go-to product for creative professionals looking for editing and graphic software and by 2010, Apple was a clear winner in the personal computer space for creative retail and small-to-medium enterprise consumers.
Previous management at Atomos connected with Apple and pitched the Ninja product to its co-founder Steve Jobs, personally in the hope of incorporating that company’s digital Apple ProRes codec into the Ninja.
Jobs was happy enough with the idea that he provided the software for free to Atomos, punting on the fact that anything that could suck compressed data from a digital camera and into a decompressed state compatible with the ProRes format would be good for his own PC sales.
Atomos still maintains access to the Apple software, enabling the digital ProRes codec to integrate seamlessly with Atomos’ Ninja product.
By 2010, video editing software had become a burgeoning US$5 billion (AU$7.65 billion) industry, driven by an explosion in smart phone sales and the development of social media sites such as YouTube and Facebook. Suddenly, everyone had a smartphone in their pocket with photo and video capabilities and a plethora of social media sites on which to post their content.
As the market developed, so too did demand for better-quality images for editing, which had only really become possible through devices such as the Ninja at the time.
Atomos had found itself in exactly the right place at the right time. Not only were the major camera manufacturers such as Nikon, Sony and Canon in a race to shrink their devices – which inevitably led to the poorer quality memory storage that the Ninja was specifically designed to address – but the social media market was growing at a phenomenal rate, driven by a massive thirst for content.
With podcasting and sites like Youtube seemingly taking over the media landscape, Atomos looks well set to capitalise on what looks to be a decades long content driven trend that places video and related products in the box seat.
Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: mattbirney@bullsnbears.com.au
