Two venerable names in cine tech are bowing out nearly concurrently. France’s Transvideo has completely closed, and UK-based PAG will enter a “managed shutdown”, ceasing manufacturing and promoting batteries to the movie and TV market. Past the unhappiness, their exits highlight a harsher aggressive panorama, post-strike demand volatility, and rising compliance prices which can be reshaping who survives in our trade.
Transvideo’s web site now opens with a easy line in French and English: the corporate is “completely closed.” The announcement arrived solely months after celebrating 40 years in enterprise and recalling an Academy Scientific and Engineering Award in 2009 for contributions to on-board monitoring.
As displayed on their web site, Transvideo is out of enterprise. Screenshot from web site.
PAG’s homeowners revealed a candid notice explaining that lower-cost imports have saturated the market whereas demand of their conventional broadcast and cine segments has contracted. The household has due to this fact opted for a managed shutdown of its movie/TV battery enterprise, whereas emphasizing that the corporate stays solvent and can honor product warranties. Protection elsewhere echoed the identical wording.
Message from the PAG homeowners concerning the closure. Screenshot from web site.
What Transvideo represented
Transvideo was by no means a quantity participant. It catered to a demanding tier of assistants, focus pullers, Steadicam and gimbal operators with rugged on-board screens akin to CineMonitorHD/UHD, StarliteHD and specialised wi-fi and metadata instruments like LensReader. The model’s popularity for longevity was a part of its worth proposition, with many models reportedly working after many years of day by day use. That craft pedigree, and its recognition by the Academy in 2009, made yesterday’s transient closure discover land even more durable for crews who trusted the gear.
PAG’s exit and stress on the battery market
For greater than 50 years PAG set requirements round secure, serviceable V-mount options, sensible linking packs and strong chargers. They launched stackable batteries which have been actually a novelty in 2020, after we first lined them. PAG’s farewell message factors squarely at value competitors from imports and shrinking demand in core cinema and broadcast channels. The corporate’s chosen path, a solvent wind-down with warranties honored, suggests an orderly exit moderately than a collapse, but it additionally underlines how skinny margins have develop into for European producers at PAG’s scale.
Manufacturing whiplash remains to be working by the availability chain
Distributors should not insulated from the stop-start rhythm of manufacturing since 2020. FilmLA reported that on-location filming in Los Angeles fell 22.4% year-over-year in Q1 2025, with tv down 30.5% and options down 28.9%. Even the place 2024 confirmed restoration versus the strike 12 months, volumes lagged multi-year averages. The speedy ache sits with crews, however second-order results hit specialty suppliers a number of quarters later, precisely when many nonetheless carry post-pandemic stock and financing burdens.
Consolidation, portfolio pruning and new entrants
On the different finish of the spectrum, bigger teams are slimming and refocusing. Videndum, mother or father to quite a few professional manufacturers (we’ve written about their challenges earlier this 12 months), agreed this month to promote JOBY to VIJIM (a sub-brand of Ulanzi) and flagged debt discount as a purpose in official filings and shows. In the meantime, headline consolidation continues: Nikon’s 2024 acquisition of RED reveals how deep-pocketed gamers are absorbing cine experience and IP when it matches a broader technique. In the identical vein, Bloomberg reported in August that privately-owned ARRI is weighing its choices together with a sale of the corporate.
JOBY, well-known for the Gorillapod, was bought by Videndum to VIJIM (Ulanzi) for an undisclosed sum).
The pricing squeeze from beneath
Batteries, lighting, lenses and equipment are seeing aggressive competitors from Chinese language producers who scaled rapidly throughout tiers that when belonged to area of interest European and US specialists. Within the lighting sector, manufacturers like Aputure, NANLITE/NANLUX and Godox are rising their share even into higher-end and rental segments, shifting the price-performance bar for everybody else. PAG’s goodbye explicitly cites “lower-cost imports,” making the dynamic plain.
Compliance prices are rising, particularly for batteries
Past value pressures, regulation is getting stricter. The EU Batteries Regulation (EU) 2023/1542, in drive since 2024, rolls out stepped necessities by 2026–2027, together with labeling, carbon-footprint reporting, and finally digital “battery passports” accessed through QR codes for sure classes. Whereas not the direct reason behind PAG’s choice, these measures increase improvement and compliance overhead for any battery maker promoting into the EU.
ARRI contemplating a sale, in response to Bloomberg
What it means for working filmmakers
For crews and rental homes, the near-term questions are sensible. PAG states it would honor current warranties throughout its managed shutdown, which ought to present a service runway for present homeowners. Transvideo customers face a more durable path: with the corporate closed, long-term help and spare elements are unsure. The place mission-critical, start threat assessments now: determine alternates for on-board monitoring ecosystems, confirm cross-compatibility of battery plates and chargers throughout manufacturers, and take into account stocking important spares whereas provide stays fluid.
A shrinking center
Taken collectively, Transvideo’s closure and PAG’s exit reinforce a sample our sector has felt for some time: the “center” is getting crushed. On one facet, massive, diversified teams can climate cycles and compliance; on the opposite, aggressive entrants undercut on value and iterate quick. It leaves fewer seats for mid-sized, extremely specialised producers whose edge was craftsmanship and a detailed relationship with crews. Whether or not this cycle produces new champions or extra consolidations will depend upon how rapidly manufacturing volumes normalize and whether or not premium manufacturers can clearly differentiate on reliability, service and whole price of possession.
Two revered names leaving in the identical week is sobering. What different elements of your equipment would you battle to exchange tomorrow, and what contingency plans are you making (if any)?
