The gaming machines industry has been going through some lean times of late, made thinner by the uncertainty generated by the failure of the Gambling Act 2005 to arrive on the statute book with its new framework of regulation fully formed or even easily predictable. Manufacturing has suffered several years of decline and fewer new products are entering the market, both largely as a consequence of prolonged regulatory uncertainty and restrictions of levels of stakes and prizes discouraging investment and innovation.

The gaming machines industry has been going through some lean times of late, made thinner by the uncertainty generated by the failure of the Gambling Act 2005 to arrive on the statute book with its new framework of regulation fully formed or even easily predictable. Manufacturing has suffered several years of decline and fewer new products are entering the market, both largely as a consequence of prolonged regulatory uncertainty and restrictions of levels of stakes and prizes discouraging investment and innovation.

Against this, however, are the facts that the market continues to track that of gambling at large in continuing to grow in expenditure terms, that gaming machines remain among the forms of gambling most commonly participated in and that when the sector finally receives word of the shape of its future regulation it will find a broader section of society interested in gambling than ever before. The industry believes it has the capability to bounce back but fears the damage currently being sustained may prove, if not terminal for some, then sufficiently serious to take many years to repair.

This report assesses the current state of the market, analyses consumer usage of and attitudes towards gaming machines and offers some indication of likely future trends. This is the fifth occasion on which Mintel has examined the gaming machines market, the last report being produced in June 2004.