In the city of Londrina, in the northern Paraná, a state in the southern region of Brazil, a group of micro-companies united around what is already renown as a sector hub in the country.
That is where Oníria acts, responsible for a game that has entered in the list of 20 games most sold in the German market. The ranking, elaborated by the German company VUD, was released in January this year.
Entitled Die Pferdbande (or The Gang of the Horses), based on a novel by the same name, the game sold 15,000 copies between December last year and January this year.
The positive results obtained in Germany make Oníria think about new markets. The company is preparing a version in French and another in Dutch.
The aim is that they become as successful as The Gang of the Horses or Space Shooter, another sales champion launched in 2001 and sold in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Virtual Reality
Those who believe, however, that these programs are strictly for entertainment, are mistaken. They serve as bases for the incursion to other areas, such as personnel training and simulations.
And here another opportunity is opened. Juliano Bastos Alves, trade director at Oníria, says the sector is aware of these new possibilities and has been dedicating itself to meet these demands.
One of the markets coming up is that of “business games”, where there are simulations of real situations which a company manager has to deal with; another is that of “advertising games”, in which the focus is the treatment given to the brand of a determined product.
In Japan
The Japanese market, highly rigorous and competitive, also surrendered to the software made in Brazil. The company Malisoft, based in Curitiba, also in Paraná, is another example of Brazilian competence in the field.
The company is celebrating a 300% increase in exports of computer programs to that market. The Japanese currently respond to 60% of the company’s revenues. And there is space to grow more, says Hélio Sifoni, director.
Since the year 2000, Malisoft has been after business in Japanese markets. Since then, says Sifoni, about 15 journeys to Japan have been made, ten participations in technology trade fairs and eight lectures given to Japanese businessmen.
During these five years of commercial relationship, 16 agreements were signed, which became 12 services contracts. The last was signed during Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s visit to the country, in the month of May.
It is for a program for messages via web developed especially for a Japanese technology company that has as its clients 400 companies listed in the Tokyo stock market.
The Brazilian talent in the software sector is taking advantage of the great international demand for technology products.
“The whole world, especially the developed countries, have noticed it (the importance of information technology) and have been investing heavily in the development and application of new technologies,” observes Wolney Betiol, coordinator at the Theme Council for Industrial Policies and Technological Innovation at the Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná. The businessman that bets in this segment will certainly win.
Omar Nasser is from the Fiep, Federation of Industries of the State of Paraná.
Anba – www.anba.com.br