AV Magazine
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As reliant on
tourism, retail and live events as much of Iberia is, the region is still
unwinding from the effects of the pandemic but growth should be strong moving
forward due to both countries haven taken advantage of European funds.
Iberia has been more buoyant than other European markets over the past 24 months, reports Cecilia Wills, country manager, Matrox Video: “The demand for pro AV equipment and services has increased in various sectors from corporate and events to education.”
“Spain and Portugal
are still existing in a post-Covid period as many smaller projects are being
fulfilled that were put on hold and held in backlog,” says Jeroen Helms, sales
director, EMEA, Peerless-AV. “Stock levels and logistical issues are now solved,
making this fulfilment possible. New, larger projects are not as widely
available in these territories, and both countries are extremely cost conscious
with price driven brands dominating the pro AV market.”
Julián Oltra, MD of
Clear-Com partner, Audio Video Zentralmedia also notes both the large number of
projects accumulated due to the hiatus as well as the business this means for
almost all AV companies.
Both countries have
taken advantage of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan financed
with European funds. “This will represent an economic boost aimed at the
digital transformation of public and private sectors, as well as the creation
of digital, safe and sustainable infrastructures,” says Carmen Jerez, regional
sales manager of Southern Europe, Datapath. The investment is worth 20 billion
Euros over three years “a volume of resources destined for digitalisation with
a scope and magnitude that will allow a truly transformative impact and
reflected already in the growth of opportunities for AV.”
The global
macroeconomic situation weighs on the business climate too albeit that the
outlook for 2024 is for positive growth and lower inflation.
Pedro Ballesteros,
Kramer’s regional sales director believes instability due to the conflicts in
Ukraine and Palestine has impacted business, as well as inflation.
“These combined to
result in negative growth of the pro AV market and as a consequence investments
in pro AV solutions fell during the year.”
Jerez counters that
despite the conflicts creating uncertainty, “it is important to note that they
are two growing markets in the AV industry and especially in the control room
environment,” Jerez says.
Key to navigating
these uncertainties, adds Helms “is an open mind and a willingness to adapt and
learn.”
“The climate is
very positive,” asserts Antonio Ortega, Creston’s country manager who is
especially eager to see what will happen to the industry now that the supply
chain issues are under control.
Portuguese AV
market
The Portuguese AV market, in particular, has been experiencing “significant and
sustainable growth” reports Miguel Dominguez who looks after Genelec there.
There are no major
differences between the two countries from an AV standpoint. Spain is the far
larger and more developed market, with a more established and developed channel
of AV distribution partners, notes Helms. “The Portuguese tend to be more protective
of their smaller, more independent AV market, with a we-can-do-ourselves
attitude,” he says.
Both countries have
been earlier adopters of many new trends, says Ortega. “The customers in this
region are tech savvy. They know what they want and push us to use the full
potential of our products. Traditional products are less in demand. AV-over-IP
for instance, has taken over as the most used solution, leaving the traditional
solutions behind.”
Manuel Rivera,
sales and marketing manager of Yamaha Music’s Pro Audio Division says: “Both
nations uniquely combine historic and modern elements in their audio visual
sectors, distinguishing them on the European scene as centres where cultural
heritage meets technological advance.” That’s evident from last year’s tally of
visitors from the region to ISE in Barcelona.
There is another
notable attraction common to both countries. “Many multinationals are creating
availability zones for data centres on Iberian soil, making it one of the
emerging markets and also accommodating the AV industry mainly through control
rooms,” says Jerez.
There are currently
60 data centres under construction in Spain alone. Amazon, Google and Microsoft
are investing millions of Euros to build capacity there. At Sinces, south
Portugal, Datapath is involved in building a control room for one of the
largest and greenest data centres in Europe.
“The availability
of cheap local green energy combined with geographical proximity to three other
continents with fast connections using new high-speed subsea cables which
crosses the Atlantic to Brazil, makes Sines an ideal location,” explains Jerez.
“It will propel Portugal on to the international data traffic and data centre
stage.”
Compared to other
European markets, Spain and Portugal can be more price-sensitive for, say,
corporate and education projects, says Wills. “But price is less important in
mission-critical deployments, such as rail and air infrastructure projects,
where brand reputation is more important.”
There’s also been
an increase in public tenders in transportation due to investments in national
infrastructure. Wills believes this is driving demand for video walls,
AV-over-IP solutions, and IP KVM. Some of these programmes are longer-term and
won’t deploy for another few years, but others are looking to close in 2024.
“Spain and Portugal
are also looking towards smart cities in order to improve traffic management,
citizen security, and energy efficiency,” she says. “Pro AV has a big role to
play here and it will be an exciting growth area in the region.”
Tourism back to the
top
Tourism is the main vertical and source of income, especially in Spain and
Southern Portugal. “With the post-Covid return of tourism, the importance of
customer experience has increased dramatically,” says Donald De Witte, regional
director, Lightware Visual Engineering. “The list of top music festivals is
increasing every year which has an impact on the live events industry. Rental
and staging is returning to pre-Covid levels and all concerts are increasing
their use of video and imagery. During the summer, almost all towns hold
celebrations. To attract foreign visitors they are looking for more impactful
events.”
Similarly, the
retail and hospitality markets are thriving with more interactive experiences.
The number of flagship stores in the main cities has doubled and digital
signage usage has increased, says De Witte. “The presence of interactive kiosks
is increasingly common.”
The amount of AV
technology going into high street stores is incredible, exclaims Helms. “And
where a large display is needed, this means an opportunity to attach a mount!
In retail, Spain is a test ground, and we will likely see it moving into other
European countries very soon.”
Crestron notes an
uptake in major luxury hospitality, retail and leisure projects, including
meeting rooms and guest experience in VIP rooms. “It’s clear that the focus on
the user experience is growing,” says Ortega. “Ever since lockdown, there’s a
heightened expectation from guests about their in-room entertainment, and end
users are responding to those requests.”
Genelec has scored
considerable success since teaming with sales partner Garrett. Its first major
project was JNcQUOI, combining a high-class restaurant with an upmarket fashion
store and delicatessen bar, distributed over three floors in the most exclusive
area of Lisbon. Others followed including restaurants as well as retail stores,
universities, museums and even training centres, such as the L’Oreal premises
located in Lisbon.
Although longer
term, it is worth considering the business opportunities of the FIFA World Cup
2030 because it involves Spain, Portugal and Morocco. “The demands on all
sports facilities and broadcast equipment will be very high,” says Oltra.
“Every time we see more surprising stadiums as an example of architecture, but
also think about diversifying their applications with first-class connections
and communications.”
Prosegur’s iSOC in
Madrid
For monitoring and threat management, operators at Prosegur Security’s new
intelligent security operations centre (iSOC) in Madrid rely on a video wall
powered by Matrox D-Series graphics cards.
The video wall
pulls information from more than 300,000 sources that the iSOC monitors —
including CCTV, biometric ID applications; panic buttons and alarms and the
mobile communication systems of every one of the security guards.
The iSOC is capable
of remotely controlling 120,000+ cameras in more than 25,000 facilities in any
sector from retail shopping centres to banking networks. AI specialised for
security — developed or adapted by Prosegur in cameras and sensors — generates alerts
when it anticipates a risk or a suspicious pattern.
The technology
manages 1.2 million alarms a month and can discriminate false alarms, meaning
that humans must manage only 1% of them. More than 1,200 specially trained
operators maintain realtime contact with 26,500 security guards and technicians
across Spain from this control centre.
Education sector
growth
In Kramer’s case, the educational sector, specifically the university and
postgraduate environment, has seen very important growth. Here, collaboration
solutions for students such as VIA, or tools for teachers with QuickLaunch for
education, have provided “very simple interfaces, facilitating their day-to-day
tasks with a smooth transition to these new solutions,” says Ballesteros.
“In the corporate
market post-pandemic, office occupancy dropped a lot and is one of the reasons
for the decrease in the level of investment in pro AV technologies in this
vertical, but they still need collaboration, hybrid communication and to
increase the employee efficiency from the office or from home.”
More than one
respondent to AV identifies the need to make personal connections as a key to
success. “Being present regularly in the market and having face-to-face
meetings with partners and customers is crucial,” says Wills.
Jerez identifies
the “differential value of support and personalised attention, highly valued in
both cultures,” while Oltra talks of a market that forces him to continually
learn. “It is very stimulating for all of us who are lucky enough to work in
this sector.”
“In Spain and
Portugal, face-to-face interaction is even more important than normal,” agrees
Helms. “Cementing business discussions over lunch or a glass of wine is
expected, as a sign of obligation and loyalty.”
Salud/saúde to that.
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