What’s on at PL+S Guangzhou?
What’s on at PL+S Guangzhou?
Having historically shared crossover dates with the Guangzhou GET Show, the 17th iteration of PL+S Guangzhou, which opened on Sunday at the China Import and Export Fair, was approached with a hint of reticence. With the GET Show continuing to run its event later in May, would the separation of the competing shows aid or hinder exhibitors and visitors alike?
Judging by the organisers’ claims of even larger exhibitor numbers (1,353), along with large crowds queuing up to register and enter the show, there certainly didn’t seem to be too much to fear on the statistics front. On entering the main pro audio halls, normal service appeared to be in full swing, unfortunately including the excessive decibel levels.
The footprints in each of the main ‘Audio Brand Name’ halls pretty much mirrored that of the 2018 show and in 5.2, Harman and Yamaha once again took podium positions at the front. With the show coming hot on the heels of both NAMM and ISE, visitors were able to take advantage of getting up close and personal with a number of recent product launches such as the T Series from Powersoft on the EZPro booth and Atlas IED’s innovative SHS (Strategically Hidden Speaker) displayed on the Litron stand.
A seminar programme was also available, enabling interested parties to hear more about ‘theatre-based applications in AVoIP’ and ‘LED: the new language for high performance lighting’, while Audinate offered a Level 1 & 2 Dante Certification course on the first day.
Outdoor line arrays have been a regular fixture over the past years at PL+S Guangzhou and, this year, the show also hosted its first interactive multimedia display in cooperation with Chinese media giant Visual Jockey entitled, ‘The Lighting and Art Space’.
As is often the case, the show proves a timely opportunity to alert the market to new distribution tie-ups, including the likes of Belgian loudspeaker manufacturer Audiofocus appointing Eatrend AV Technology, and Full Fat Audio from the UK strategically signing up Phoenix Audio, which includes Funktion-One and VDC among its roster. Acustica Beyma reminded the industry of its half-century pedigree with ‘50’ logos prominently displayed on its booth, and, with just a decade under its belt, German cable manufacturer Klotz ais had decided to exhibit in its own right for the first time at the show.
‘For us, it’s about leaving a footprint in the market,’ explained director of international sales, Frederic Kromberg. ‘We have distributors here who we’ve worked with very successfully and there’s a strong demand for Klotz so that’s why we decided to take our own booth so we can show an even wider range of products, plus fibre-optic and network solutions with CatLink boxes that they’ve never seen before.’
PL+S Guangzhou continues through to 27 February and next year’s dates have also been announced with the show running from 19–22 February 2020.