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Getty gets current, but business remains out of focus

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This morning Getty Images (NYSE: GYI) made its SEC Filings for its 2006 annual report, as well as getting in its 10-Q quarterlies for the following quarters: March 31, 2006; June 30, 2006; September 30, 2006 and March 31, 2007. It has been a year since the company had been current because of past option reviews. You can read the SEC filings at the company site now. Often companies that have been delinquent see shares rise on the "getting current" news, but so far today, there has been little such upside in the stock.

Regardless of the stock performance today and the SEC filing delays, this is a company that is under attack. How would you like to sell digital images for 10 and 20 times what photos can be purchased for elsewhere? How would you like your entire business to be wiki'd out by an instant competitor with a massive stock photo library, and for under $20,000?

Sure, the company has made acquisitions for lower-priced photos and is making some foray in videos. It also is not a business that will fail because the sole position the company gets for live and stock sporting events may be enough to support the entire operations. But longer-term it is hard to see how this company will not face margin pressure every day.

Back a few years ago, you had two choices for stock photos if you were media or a web site: Getty Images, or Bill Gates' CORBIS. Jupiter Media (NASDAQ:JUPM) is also a competitor, and Getty Images actually decided to back out of acquiring the company. Sounds like the monetary value of stock photos just isn't what it used to be. Getty has acquired WireImage, a creator of entertainment and event imagery. It has also acquired PunchStock, a provider of royalty-free images. It has acquired Scoopt and owns iStockPhoto.com. This sounds good, but the underlying fact is that Getty cannot just acquire everyone out there and there are just too many fledgling companies that will go to much cheaper photo sites.

Now you have dozens and dozens of choices, for less and less money. Here is just a partial list of companies that directly compete, or could compete overnight with a wiki'ing of the business model: PhotoBucket, Corbis, Shutterfly, Flickr, Adobe Stock Photos, and StockVault, among many, many others.

Jon Ogg can be reached at jonogg@247wallst.com; he does not own securities in the companies he covers.
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Last updated: November 24, 2009: 08:52 AM

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