Palm Expo

PALM EXPO

MUMBAI, INDIA / 30 MAY - 01 JUNE

After taking a year off from PALM Expo in 2018, mondo*dr returned to the show in Mumbai this year. It felt familiar with setup day still unbearable due to the excessive heat - and no air-conditioning - and the dust. However, as is usual, the doors opened the following morning, and it is transformed. There is no doubt PALM Expo is a busy show, pulling in 30,949 visitors across the three days,

with 23,241 of them being unique. They came to see the 311 exhibitors that were split into three halls. The main hall is primarily audio, although some of the Western lighting and visual brands also feature there. Adjacent is the HARMAN Arena, which hosted seminars and live performances throughout the show - a long-standing feature, that is still going strong. Next is the lighting and effects hall, which

is dominated by Chinese manufacturers, as well as local manufacturers. A third hall that was new for this year housed AV-ICNx. This is a co-locating show, which is aimed at the integration market, hence the name, AV Integration, Communication, Networking Expo. However, this was actually changed just a week before the show opened, as it was previously AV Integrated Systems Expo,

shortened to AV-ISE, which obviously caused friction with the European show by a similar name - as the two are not connected. That said, there were a number of exhibitors who took up a space in the new hall, some of which were new to PALM Expo, while others have exhibited before but decided to take a space in the new hall. In addition to the halls themselves, there were

also the Demo Qube outside, which featured Beta Three, Bose, dBTechnologies, Pope Professional and RCF. The line array demo was moved indoors this year, when previously it has been outdoors. Brands that took a demo slot included Dare Audio, Harmonic Deisgn, Magnetic and Z Sound. For the competitive element, the DJ Championships took place at the show again this year, as well as the ninth

PALM Sound & Light Awards. The show for mondo*dr, is a good one, as we are there to see the exhibitors, find out what new products they are displaying and what projects are in the pipeline. Gathering so many of the major distributors in one space makes it a real worthwhile visit. Further backedup by the fact that many Westerners still fly out to support the local teams. As the years

gone by, the show has gone from strength to strength, as the market has developed, however, it does seem to have reached a peak. The show is therefore sustaining that standard, but it will need to continue to diversify to keep up with the competition. Raising the standard in the market was some news from the Hi-Tech stand. Ian Staddon of DiGiCo explained: “The Best Brothers have agreed at the show that they are going to update their SD7 to Quantum, and they have confirmed they will be buying another SD7 Quantum next year.” The Best Brothers added: “We are very pleased with the board and believe it is the best in the market. After you have used the SD7, you will never use another board. It’s been a wonderful experience to wok with DiGiCo and Hi-Tech, and we were the first to get DiGiCo into India, we purchased the D5, when they didn’t have any distribution in 2007.” The rental house has many plans for the upgraded SD7 Quantum. The final word goes to Ramesh Chetwani, Exhibition Director, he said: “I congratulate all PALM Sound and Light Awards winners this year, which included Bollywoods’ Filmfare Awards

for Best Stage Show, featuring most outstanding lighting showcase on stage in India. The Lighting Showcase feature was remarkable, as it was open to all lighting engineers attending PALM to showcase an impromptu lighting choreography… Lighting accounted for 21% of the exhibition floor, with increased exhibitors from last year. PALM also cooperated with MA lighting and Avolites in ensuring PALM retains its focus on providing an exhibition platform that allows only original product and brand exhibits. We earned kudos from exhibitors for this action. India’s lighting market in stadia, as well as install across solutions in entertainment, hospitality, and retail are witnessing a marked growth, adoption of premier brands, fuelled by an economy growing at 8% annually, PALM felt this surge of integrators at the show, delivering more professionals and decision makers, rather than ‘visitors with interest’.”

PALM Expo will return to the same location next year from 28-30 May. For more information go to: www.palmexpo.in