Handelsblatt 19 June 1997

LOBO ELECTRONIC GMBH / The technological market leader sets new standards
By HANS SCHULTE
Previously, the use of lasers in the show and entertainment business was something reserved for science fiction movies or discotheques. However, a company from Aalen in South-West Germany has made “show lasers” globally popular in other areas, e.g. for theater performances.
HANDELSBLATT, Wednesday, 18/6/97 STUTTGART. For anyone who has experienced the breathtaking three-dimensional beam effects in all colors projected by modern show laser technology at events under the night sky, on cruise ships or at the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth, it is an impression they won’t forget anytime soon. On this market, the company LOBO electronic GmbH from Aalen has established itself globally as a technological market leader, as managing director Lothar Bopp has told Handelsblatt.
Bopp has founded his company Lobo in 1982 in Ellwangen. In the beginning, the company, based in Aalen since 1984, was primarily active as a supplier of disco illuminations. However, since the mid-80’s, the company has focused on the then emergent laser technology for the creation of spatial and graphic light effects. Bopp started his own research and development program, launching multiple award-winning innovations up to this day.
Years ago already, LOBO was able to generate more than 16 million color nuances from a normally monochrome laser beam. In 1992, LOBO received the State Innovation Award Baden-Württemberg for the development of an autonomous parallel computer system with eight processors, enabling the flexible integration of laser into all kinds of multimedia shows in real time. This flexibility in particular is of immense importance “in this market,” as Bopp says. “Our clients come from all sectors. Rightly so, theaters, planetariums, amusement parks, advertisers and artists demand dedicated solutions from us that are not only functional, but are also in the upper echelon of the technically feasible in this industry.”
This way, LOBO was able to open up more and more market segments, even in fields were the use of show lasers was rather frowned upon, such as the Wagner Festival in Bayreuth. By now, laser systems have been installed on countless stages all around the world. And as of late, LOBO laser systems even provide entertainment at sea: For about DM 2 million, the American shipping company Celebrity Cruises had three of its largest cruise ships fitted with seawater-resistant LOBO laser systems.
Multiple international awards, including nine alone last year in the US, are proof of LOBO’s rise to the world elite in the show laser industry. Today, the company is present as exhibitor at all relevant fairs between Cologne and Singapore.
LOBO, with its 30 highly qualified employees working from the headquarters in Aalen, generated a turnover of about DM 10 million last year. The export quota reached a remarkable 60%, whereof 70% were generated in non-European countries, increasingly in the Far East. “As our products are in the upper segment with regards to performance, quality and price, our company has focused strongly on exports from the very beginning,” Bopp stresses.
About 70% of the turnover is generated with the sale of hardware and software. The remaining 30% are generated through rentals. Here, clients receive a full-service offer for the performance of complete laser shows. In addition to specifically developed applications, rental clients can choose from more than 200 shows from LOBO’s archives. This way, many large companies, including Daimler-Benz, BMW, Telekom or General Motors, have already availed of the expertise of the South-German laser specialist for their product presentations, congresses or meetings.