The year 2025 will not go down as the very best in ARRI's over one-hundred-year company history—according to unconfirmed but also undenied reports, investors are being sought. As reported by in August, a sale of the company or individual business units is allegedly not ruled out. Various restructuring measures are already underway, especially in the lighting sector—the plant in Stephanskirchen, where the entire portfolio of ARRI luminaires for professional use was previously manufactured, was closed in the autumn.
These are not news items that inspire confidence in users and potential customers. At the end of the year, ARRI is now providing an outlook for the coming year—they explicitly want to give "a strong commitment" to the future of the ARRI brand; the fact that this is necessary speaks volumes, unfortunately.
Nevertheless, the following can be read: "The ALEXA camera family and the expanded ARRI camera ecosystem will continue to grow in the coming years," with the central focus remaining on the high-end cinema and live entertainment market.
This is certainly more than just lip service; the company recently announced that it is expanding its existing collaboration with The Helm into a strategic partnership in the field of live production. This is intended to increasingly distribute ARRI's live broadcast solutions as an end-to-end service offering and to support producers and content creators who want to integrate this technology into concert tours, live broadcasts, film and television, as well as corporate events.
However, lighting technology is also intended to remain a central pillar of the company—for 2026 and beyond, there will be a comprehensive roadmap for lighting products that incorporates new technologies for film production, live entertainment, and content creators. However, one should be prepared for these new lighting products no longer to be manufactured in Germany. This is not explicitly stated, but there is talk of new lights being "designed in Germany," not "made in Germany."
After the closure of the Stephanskirchen plant, this would naturally be no surprise at all. What is interesting, however, is where the upcoming lights will be produced instead, and by whom. After all, the development of new lighting technologies will "continue to take place internally."
Finally, ARRI apologizes for "any difficulties, especially in the area of lighting technology" regarding service and repairs—and promises improvement:
"By consolidating the service offerings for lighting, camera, lens, and stabilization systems in Munich, our goal is not only to meet your expectations of the ARRI brand but to exceed them—especially after the completion of the service transition for lighting technology to our Munich headquarters."
;)
;)