Apple Industries Named “Manufacturer of the Year” at Amusement Expo

Award recognizes Apple for outstanding achievements in “product success” (sales and earnings), product quality and customer service

Greenvale, NY, March 20, 2017 – Apple Industries was honored as the U.S. amusement industry’s 2016 “Manufacturer of the Year” during opening ceremonies for this year’s Amusement Expo International (Sheraton Dallas Hotel, Dallas, Texas, March 14-17).

Apple was selected through balloting of the membership of the American Amusement Machine Association (coin-op.org). “These prestigious awards recognize the best in the industry,” said AAMA officials.

“On behalf of our entire team at Apple Industries, I’d like to express our deep gratitude to AAMA for this thrilling accolade,” said Apple CEO Allen Weisberg. “There is no greater tribute than to be recognized for excellence by your industry friends, peers and colleagues. We couldn’t be prouder or more excited.”

In addition to naming Apple as “Manufacturer of the Year,” AAMA also honored the “Distributor of the Year” and the “Supplier of the Year” during Expo’s opening ceremonies. Apple was chosen for the award based on individual rankings by AAMA members in categories including “Success of Product,” “Product Quality” and “Customer Service Support.”

“We have worked extremely hard to deliver on exactly those metrics for operators and distributors,” said Apple COO Scott Avery. “The success of Face Place Photo Booths is affirmed every day by cashboxes and credit card acceptors across America. Street operators can make $500 a week with a Sapphire or Ruby model in a strong tavern location while FECs, sports arenas and other high-traffic locations generate $1,000 a week — and sometimes much more — with machines like our brand-new Movie Machine, featuring licensed characters and content from the hottest Hollywood films, and our popular, giant-sized Photo Studio Deluxe.”

Speaking of location success, Apple photo booths have become famous for maintaining and even increasing their earnings over the long term. One big reason: the company provides an ongoing series of free content upgrades to keep customer interest high. “Many Face Place booths have been on location for 5 or 10 years,” Scott Avery pointed out, “and they’re generating more revenues now than they did the first year on location.”

Product quality is a particular point of pride for Apple. Face Place booths feature all-steel construction so they look great and work reliably for years. The company’s Smile 2.0 network also delivers product quality by enabling those free content downloads, and driving revenue from upsells such as social media distribution of photos taken in the booth. Smile 2.0 also facilitates Apple’s New Product Fulfillment Program. This enables customers to use the Face Place touchscreen to order personalized merchandise such as cell phone cases, mugs and keychains emblazoned with images created during their photo shoot sessions.

Finally, Apple is extremely proud of its Customer Service Department. Ten-year company veteran Anita Villalta manages a team of service professionals who provide daily assistance by phone and email so Face Place operators stay up to speed on all the new technologies, features and functions of Apple’s constantly evolving products. According to Anita, “We answer a steady stream of questions on every aspect of operation, from social media interfaces to email reports to operators, software updates, remote management and remote diagnostics. We care about our customers and the longevity of their businesses.”

For Apple Industries, AAMA’s 2016 “Manufacturer of the Year” Award caps a remarkable run of honors conferred. In the past 12 months Apple was the proud recipient of the 2016 AMOA Innovator Award for its New Product Fulfillment Program; the 2016 “Operator’s Choice” Award for Best Photo Booth from Play Meter magazine; the 2016 Appreciation Award from leading Mideast distributor Warehouse of Games; the 2016 AAMA Joe Robbins Award to Apple CEO Allen Weisberg for association leadership; and the 2016 IAAPA “Brass Ring” Award for Photo Studio Deluxe as Best New Product in the entire amusements category.