Audio-visual market sees upward trend

Sunaina Rana / Emirates Business

The booming entertainment and hospitality sectors have driven demand for audio-visual solutions and technology in the region.
With its multicultural population, GCC is a major destination for a large number of international artistes and performers, cultural troupes and myriad international sporting events, all
of which increase the demand for
high quality sound and light solution providers, as well as equipment renters and operators.
Mig Cardamone, Director of Sales and Marketing at Sennheiser Middle East, told Emirates Business, “The Middle East AV market has seen some of the fastest growth rates internationally over the last few years and I believe that we’ll see that trend continue, albeit I think we are in the middle of a challenging period and have been
for the last 9-12 months or so as
the primarily commodity-based Gulf economies in particular have begun to slow due to falling oil prices and consequent budget retrenchment. We’re probably not at the end of this period of uncertainty, but as oil prices have begun stabilising and even rising, we’re hopeful that the economic situation will improve in 2017 and with it the AV market as we head towards Expo 2020.”
Emirates Business spoke to an audio engineer and a voice actor by profession, Miltiadis Kyvernitis, whose family’s company NMK Electronics Ent. caters to wholesale in professional audio/visual equipment. He said, “The audiovisual market is one of the fastest growing markets here, and it all starts from here in Dubai, being the hub in AV technology for the region. The industry has huge potential. Given the upcoming megaprojects in plan including Expo 2020 and the World Cup 2022, along with other major regional projects like Saudi’s Economic City and Qatar’s Lusail City/Stadium,
the entire industry of AV that is lighting and sound systems, HD displays and projectors, online streaming
and webcasting will be catering to
the demands in order to complete these projects. Subsequently, post
production companies for video
and sound are to benefit from the massive amounts of promotional campaigns, advertising and real-time content required.”
It is estimated that the Middle East and Africa (MEA) audio-visual market is among the fastest growing worldwide. The AV market grew from US$1.1bn in 2009 to US$2.79bn in 2012 and is projected to reach $4.63bn by 2016, registering a CAGR of 13%.
Speaking on the potential of Audio Visual Market in the region, Cardamone said, “We believe that the medium and long-term outlook remains promising – the Gulf countries in particular will drive that growth as they accelerate the diversification of their economies and become less reliant on oil and gas exports and this is driving investment in infrastructure, business and financial centres, hospitality and tourism. Government initiatives such as Dubai Smart City and Dubai Innovation Hub are driving advances in technology deployment and with that a growing population and young demographic who are embracing the use of technology at work, at home and in their leisure time.”
As the Expo 2020 would increase the demands of these solutions, especially in entertainment, the demand for pro-audio and lighting equipment is also expected to surge.
The demand for entertainment and events will also witness a high tide. In addition the demand for musicians and bands, prompt and musical instruments and pro-audio equipment all will be in demand.
“With that increase, the post-production sector for audio and video will see an increase in demand as the advertising industry looks to fill those newly added solutions, as well as advertising and promotions online in general through various social media platforms,” stated Kyvernitis.
“There has already been a positive impact in the UAE following the announcement of the award of EXPO 2020 to Dubai as many of the infrastructure projects to support this are underway. There are a number of high-profile leisure facilities that will open over the next couple of years such as the three major museums in Abu Dhabi, the Dubai Opera House and a number of theme parks, with the latter alone anticipated to add over $400M to UAE tourism income. Together these will transform the UAE into a world-class leisure and entertainment destination and will mean that visitors to the EXPO 2020 will have plenty of reasons to return,” concluded Cardamone.
The market in the Middle East alone will hit $3bn mark by 2016, in which the UAE’s share is projected to grow from $700mn in 2012 to $1.24bn in 2016 making one of the fastest-growing market in the region.