South East Asia: Far eastern promise

AV Magazine

With the pandemic basically under control, most Southeast Asian countries have re-opened their economies. Business activities have resumed and there’s a strong rebound in tourism and live performances. 

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Buoyed by positive pandemic developments, the Asian Development Bank forecasts that developing East Asian economies will grow 5.2 per cent in 2022.

AVIXA predicts the market will generate U$6.79 billion in pro AV revenues this year, representing an impressive 13.5 per cent growth over 2021. Next year looks promising too, with revenues forecast to increase a further 10.4 per cent to $7.49 billion.

“These are above the overall industry averages, highlighting SEA as a strong climate for pro AV thanks to robust recovery from the pandemic,” according to Sean Wargo, senior director of market intelligence.

“The pro AV climate has improved with more companies looking to acquire or upgrade their existing systems,” agrees Jason Yeo, senior sales manager, SEA at Christie. “If this positive trend continues and barring any unforeseen circumstances such as rising inflation and the emergence of a new, lethal variant, the outlook is positive for the next twelve to eighteen months.”

Other respondents are more circumspect. Aniket Rangnekar, APAC regional manager with Apantac says the upward trend is slower and should be taken over two to three years.

Kurt Loh, business director, Asia-Pacific, Atlona agrees that SEA is in recovery mode but that “progress continues to face global supply chain shortages while concurrently dealing with rising interest rates, inflation, and foreign exchange pressures against the USD.

We don’t know how long these will last, but the SEA AV industry will see strong growth when things begin to improve.”

Corporate driving business
Like much of the rest of the world, the corporate vertical is the largest percentage of the total revenue opportunity, at 22 per cent (per AVIXA). Media and entertainment is the second largest at 18 per cent. The fastest growth is coming from venues and events, perhaps not a surprise given that it is also the market that was the hardest hit by the pandemic and so is now recovering in earnest as in-person attendance resumes.

“Covid-19 has pushed for digital transformation, resulting in new trends when it comes to pro AV requirements,” says Jeffrey NG Kian Hong, regional director for Lightware Visual Engineering. He believes that in 18 months the local market will have increased three to five times compared to 2019.

“In education, remote teaching and training have grown, fostering global collaboration and allowing foreign teachers to share their knowledge online to students. In corporate, many companies are evolving hybrid schemes, collaboration and smart workplaces. It is a common practice now to communicate with overseas clients and offices, through UC solutions, rather than by phone.”

With corporate as the largest vertical, it follows that conferencing and collaboration would be the largest solution area, highlighting the value technology provides as a connective tissue for businesses in the region. Certainly, a global phenomenon, but no less important in SEA.

“With the shift in hybrid and remote work and learning models due to the pandemic, we are starting to see UC as an integral part of AV and the convergence of AV into IT infrastructure within the APAC region,” says Jacques Bertrand, European vice-president of Asia at Crestron Electronics. “Although adoption rates differ from country to country, Singapore is leading the pack.”

Rangnekar highlights opportunities in sports as new technologies enable local teams and niche sports to stream games to fans. “Many countries have realised the potential of local sports leagues which are able to generate good revenue through the ground event plus video rights and advertising. Muay Thai (Thai boxing) is extremely popular in Thailand, basketball/boxing in the Philippines has huge local popularity and badminton is immensely popular in Malaysia/Indonesia. All these examples can generate revenue and thus are a reason for investing in better AV infrastructure in the smaller cities of any country in SEA.”

Penetration of 5G networks in smaller cities will also benefit the AV industry by making it possible for more live events to be produced from remote regions.

According to several of our correspondents, the pandemic has resulted in a collective awakening to the importance of adopting AV tech in the region, not only to prepare themselves for a repeat viral outbreak in healthcare but also in enabling a new digital-centric lifestyle.

“Prior to Covid-19, in-person meetings were preferred and virtual conferences discouraged as they were perceived to be less personal and productive,” says Jason Yeo, senior sales manager SEA at Christie. However, such a mindset and culture have since taken a 180-degree turn.

“Companies have readily embraced AV technologies as they are proven to maintain business continuity and increase productivity. Many have made significant investments in video conferencing solutions and even closed loop systems to ensure that their day-to-day operations are not affected by sudden lockdowns and movement curbs.”

Christie reports a jump in the use of direct-view LED video walls, as well as the implementation of immersive elements such as AR and VR in installations that elevate the user/guest experience. The market for AR and VR in SEA will be valued at $31.6 billion by 2027 according to Report Ocean.

“We anticipate that pro AV technologies, particularly cutting-edge systems incorporating AR and VR, digital signage, wearables and voice-recognition capabilities will be highly sought after as more businesses establish their presence in SEA markets, such as Vietnam and Cambodia,” says Yeo.

Regional hotspots
In SEA, Singapore continues to be the default choice for regional HQs and MNCs, due to the ease of setting up of businesses in both countries. “With most decision makers of regional and global companies based here, Singapore is the ideal place to showcase new technologies,” says Bertrand.

Singapore is consistently voted one of the premier events and meetings destinations in the world. The AV activity in downtown Singapore extends to the Marina Bay waterfront, which is the venue for a nightly light and water show named Spectra.

Sasithorn Michitra of InceptTech, a distributor of Kiloview, selects Bangkok “because it’s a hub for the transport sector, offers low cost of living and a wide variety of venues like stadiums, auditoriums, racetracks.” He earmarks the August opening of sports and entertainment venue Topgolf Megacity in Bangkok – the first branch of this international brand in SEA.

Vietnam has seen a significant growth in AV activity, particularly in areas such as live broadcast events, rental staging and immersive corporate experience centres. The Masked Singer Vietnam, a reality singing competition featuring celebrities in outlandish costumes competing against each other to win the coveted Masked Singer trophy, is one of the top trending programs in Vietnam.

All other major country capitals Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila, Hanoi/Ho Chi Minh, Bangkok are the main hotspots. Smaller cities like Surabaya/Bandung/Medan in Indonesia, Penang /Malacca/Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, Phuket/Chiang Mai in Thailand are examples of AV potential albeit that business would be routed through that region’s capital city.

Some specialised business, such as business process outsourcing, is contributing largely to Philippines growth, reports Loh. “Looking further out on the horizon, the urbanisation mega trends in Asia will drive smart cities, campus and buildings being developed to support the big increases in populations and businesses in a sustainable way over the long term,” he says. “Such ‘smart’ infrastructure will provide great opportunities and new applications for AV.”

Major regionals events to look for include the 2023 SEA Games to be held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and the Singapore F1 Night Race which resumed after two years of Covid shutdown.

Distinct cultures
Of all regions of the world, treating SEA as a single block is ignorant in the extreme. Broadly speaking, “users are very tech savvy, they tend to be early adopters and are quick to embrace new trends and technologies,” observes Jeff May, sales Director at conferencing specialist, Konftel. “However, it is a fragmented area, with many different and diverse economies. Each country has its own individuality and ways of working with many opportunities to explore.”

He adds: “It’s important to treat each country on its own merits and understand specific needs. One size doesn’t fit all. Video conferencing complements other technologies such as wireless content sharing so it can be beneficial to develop wider collaboration solutions.”

For Rangnekar cultural and linguistic diversity are the defining factors for how AV is used in the region. “Each country has a different language and culture, so content created in one country has no relevance or consumption in the neighbouring country and is less relevant (unless it is extremely engaging/viral and has subtitles).

“Take Malaysia and Thailand – neighbours but diverse in language and cultures. The amount of content produced and consumed in the Thai language and the volume of AV infrastructure in Bangkok alone (including signage in Bangkok malls) is different to that in Malaysia.

“The Philippines too has huge malls but being a different language and culture, the content made and the AV (DooH) they buy are different,” he says.

Routes to market
Such a diverse region requires international vendors to work with local dealers /distributors and local SIs who have their own channels and contacts to generate leads.

“Training and giving them an idea of the solution by doing online trainings and having demo units is crucial so that they get first-hand experience on how the product works and how it has been installed/integrated at site,” says Rangnekar. “Most Thai and Vietnam dealers have marketing literature translated to the local language and then distributed. Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia has no issues with English brochures.”

Michitra stresses the importance of signing local staff or dealers who can speak the language(s) as well as the vital use of online channels like Facebook and YouTube to activate marketing campaigns and video tutorials.

Kian Hong’s advice is simple: “Be patient as the pace in SEA countries is different, compared to other markets.”