AV
COVID-19 forced enterprises all over the world to rethink their approach to how and where people work. Poland and the Baltics are no exception. As in many other regions, a large number of projects has been put on hold, delayed or even cancelled entirely due to budgets cuts.
“2020 was a year to forget for almost all part of the Polish
ProAV market,” says Artur Kita, regional sales manager at Digital Projection.
“Now, though, business has started to grow once again, and if we can avoid a
country-wide lockdown I think the situation can be even better in 2022.”
The biggest effect, notes Barco VP Sales CEE / Russia &
Turkey, Jordi Molins Gilabert, was the decrease in public
tenders. “Governments understandably had other priorities handling the
health crisis,” he says. “Everything now depends on the further [pandemic]
measures taken by the government and authorities. But there’s also the economic
situation, like the increased inflation ratio in Poland, and the challenging
supply chain situation with global shortages in components, parts and
semiconductors.”
Many of the larger projects, in stadiums, hospitality and
retail sectors, for example, were postponed owing to site and travel
restrictions, but smaller installations, especially in the corporate space,
continued and there has even been growth in this area.
Price talks
“The main reason being that people and businesses still need
to communicate,” says Martin Romanowski, regional sales manager EMEA,
Peerless-AV. “With offices closing and remote working becoming the norm for so
long during the pandemic, the need to equip staff for productive home working
was a top priority, as was preparing office meeting and board rooms for the big
return.”
This is unique to the region of course, nor is hope for the
immediate future as local restrictions lift and international travel
resumes. Romanowski reports large
projects starting up again and “a positive outlook and general feeling of
optimism [about getting] back to doing business face to face again.” He adds,
“Financially, the region will remain the same over the next few years,
determined by world economics, but the general feeling of positivity for
progression and technology advancement is prevalent.”
Elaborating on this point is Alex Pagliani, sales director EMEA/Latin America
for KV2, “Personally I don’t see a difference between the Polish
customer and those in the EU any more. In the past [the difference] was maybe
more related to the fact that due to lower incomes than the ‘western’ part of
Europe, it was more difficult to afford expensive products; now the buyer needs
some justification for paying for valuable products…not only a brand sticker.”
Romanowski agrees that the Polish user wants and expects to
see and interact with technology “that improves their experience, leaves an
impression, entertains, informs and solves real life problems.
“Poland has a culture of quality,” he stresses. “The region
is very technology focused and people living there want products that are high
end as well as fully featured and easy to install.”
On the other hand, Kita suggests that the Polish market
tends to be overly focussed on price, with less focus on factors like quality,
warranty, service and long-time cooperation. We are constantly educating
customers to look at the bigger picture but it takes and will take time,” he
says.
At Crestron, regional sales manager Michal Jakobszy agrees
that the market is more focussed on the price than on Return on Investment but
that this is slowly evolving. “The total cost of ownership is being considered
more often, but in most cases the price is still the main concern when choosing
a solution.”
External consultants are not commonly used in Poland and the
Baltics. “More often vendors or integrators act as the advisors,” says
Gilabert. “But end-users also often want to choose and test solutions
independently.
Some AV resellers shifted their business during pandemic
times. Bigger players like Barco stayed active in the market, but focused more
on the local business and opportunities; “Service cannot depend on a closed
border,” says Gilabert.
KV2 were able to expand its dealer base in Poland by naming
a few “master dealers”, essentially companies who are active in specific market
segments, such as clubs and theatres. This has already brought in some
important business including installs at nightclubs in Katowice, and the Polish
Dance Theater in Poznan.
The hospitality market was struck hard by Covid but is
expected to open up as people start to travel. Digital Projection predicts
growth in Digital Signage systems for restaurants (e.g menu boards), and
Peerless-AV also spies growth of DS in the visitor attractions space.
Remote sales growth
There’s been considerable investment in remote technologies
to aid corporate communications and remote education. “AV has responded in both
sectors with video conferencing platforms and innovations in remote learning to
keep businesses and schools running effectively,” says Romanowski.
While demand for equipment used in mass events has
decreased, that for remote communication equipment “has grown exponentially,”
says Jakobszy. Crestron just partnered
with Maverick AV Solutions, part of Tech Data, to distribute its Crestron Flex
range in Poland. “Customers have a different level of proAV expectations for
remote meetings than they did a year and a half ago.”
Barco thinks up to 80% of regional office workers will be
back on-site but that the office organization will change as the hybrid work
model takes over.
A hybrid workforce means that companies don’t necessarily
know in advance where people will be (remote, in the office or traveling) which
is why Creston is promoting its smart room tools as means to manage the rooms
and desks in a physical office.
“At the same time, the current focus on a safer environment
is here to stay,” he says. “This means that people in the office expect a
touchless experience. And air quality control and automatic adaptation doesn’t
only keep people safe, cleaner air is also associated with increased wellbeing.
In education there’s a similar evolution. A multi-layered
education experience is what students expect moving forward. “They want to make
choices whether they learn some content in-person, live online or online
anytime. While some administrators and faculty are resistant to changing course
syllabuses and teaching methods to evolve with the new expectations, it will be
imperative for institutional growth to acknowledge the shifting landscape.”
Genelec even reports that remote working has increased the
sales of its SAM (Smart Active Monitor) products by 215% ahead of 2020 sales.
“For an unknown reason our sales in the Eastern part of
Europe are better than 2020,” says regional business manager, Jukka
Latva-Hakuni. “Distributors complain that AV has stopped totally, but still I
can see orders coming in for 4000 series which is our dedicated installation
range of loudspeakers.”
Nonetheless the region’s market is characterised by
uncertainty. “It’s tough to make predictions when nobody knows if there will be
further lockdowns,” Pagliani says. “The government talks about closing down
only specific areas which may have a higher infection rates. Business has been
making a great comeback since the late spring, but this does not include the
live event business, which has a long way to catch up.”
Artistic Immersion at Four Domes Pavilion
The Four Domes Pavilion in Wrocław, Poland, built in 1921,
is home to the Museum of Contemporary Art branch of Poland’s National Museum.
The collection is one of Poland’s most cherished – housing more than 20,000 paintings,
drawings, sculptures, glasswork, ceramics, photography, and conceptual works.
Components considered traditional to art museums – framed paintings and statues
– are augmented using projections, light and immersive audio.
“We’ve set up a system in a room with sensors that trigger
set experiences depending on where the listener is in the exhibition,” said
Paweł Francuz, Product Manager at integrator and kit supplier M.Ostrowski.
“This provides an experience that connects with the same impact as the visual
side of things.”
The installation includes 48 Renkus-Heinz CA81-RD point
source loudspeakers and two CA118S-RD subwoofers. In the Pavilion, the
loudspeakers are positioned on the side walls and the ceiling to create a dense
grid of sound sources.
The Renkus-Heinz loudspeakers also use Audinate’s Dante for
AV-over-IP connectivity and are driven by a Barco Iosono 3D sound processor,
which outputs 50 independent channels. Programming was completed through Dante
and Renkus-Heinz’ RHAON II software.
“It’s a rewarding moment when configuring the system
takes a few clicks rather than hours of rewiring signals to the speakers,
bearing in mind there are 50 independently working loudspeakers,” said Francuz.
“That saves a ton of time when commissioning the system. It allowed us to focus
on the end-results from the moment the speakers were deployed.”
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