Our take...
This is NCR's second acquisition this year, following the purchase of second-largest kiosk operator TNR in April, which established NCR as a key player in the US video market with in excess of 2,000 kiosks. With DVDPlay kiosks and NCR's ongoing expansion of new Blockbuster Express kiosks (currently around 500), it now boosts a total of 3,800 machines. While dwarfed by Coinstar's RedBox, which remains the market leader with 22,210 machines, NCR is now well ahead of next large player, E-Play, with around 600 kiosks, according to Screen Digest estimates. NCR thus makes its ambitious target of 10,000 kiosks by mid 2010 sound more achievable. Having acquired two of the largest players, NCR is now likely to focus on investing in the roll-out of new kiosks and seeking partners for new locations; it has announced plans to roll out 200 new kiosks a week. With the acquisition of DVDPLay, NCR has also secured entry into the US's third largest supermarket chain, Safeway, giving it access to geographical areas where it had previously been under-represented – California, Colorado and Illinois.