JEDDAH – GCC megaprojects will spur the Middle East to post a record audiovisual market value of nearly $3 billion by 2016, industry experts announced Sunday in the build-up to GITEX Technology Week 2015. The Middle East's audiovisual market is set to post one of the world's fastest growth rates, increasing by 76 percent from $1.57 billion in 2012 to $2.76 billion in 2016, according to trade association InfoComm International. The audiovisual market for the wider Middle East and Africa (MEA) region is set to reach $4.63 billion by 2016.
Audiovisual technology covers every industry vertical, and can include high-definition displays and projectors, lighting to sound systems, and streaming and webcasting technology.
Led by products, equipment, and services for GCC megaprojects and events such as World Expo 2020 in Dubai, 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, and transport and Smart Cities projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the hospitality and retail sectors are set to see the most benefit.
“The Middle East posting one of the world's fastest growth rates in audiovisual technology shows that we've gone from an era of talking about the benefits of audiovisual technology, to organizations actually purchasing solutions – whether high-definition displays for exhibition sites and stadiums, virtual check-in kiosks at hotels, or security systems for metro projects,” said Richard Tan, Executive Director, InfoComm Asia Pte Ltd., organizers of InfoComm MEA, the region's leading audiovisual event, co-located at GITEX Technology Week 2015.
“Middle East organizations want the highest quality audiovisual technology for their megaprojects to provide the best experience for their tech-savvy customers. This provides a strong opportunity for audiovisual vendors and systems integrators to enable organizations to manage information more efficiently, and enhance daily lives,” added Tan.
Demonstrating the increasing demand for audiovisual technology in the region, InfoComm MEA 2014 hosted 184 companies from 42 countries, and recorded 14,233 visitors, a 12 percent increase in the number of visitors over the same time frame as the 2013 edition.
Already InfoComm MEA 2015 has attracted more than 40 new companies from the UAE, East Asia, Europe, and the United States. The fifth edition of InfoComm MEA will run under the theme of “Digital Interconnect for Peak Performance,” co-located with GITEX Technology Week 2015 on Oct. 19-21, 2015 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. — SG
