BUSINESS: SHOW REVIEW
Palm Expo India 2014
Held days after the country’s new prime minister was sworn in,
did Palm Expo India 2014 herald a new chapter in the country’s history?
(Clockwise): Sonodyne’s Anindya Mukherjee with the new SM3200; The entrance to the show; Diversified’s international director Matthew Pearce; L-Acoustics’ Peter Owen and
DiGiCo’s Fernando Delgado with Nirdosh Aggarwal and Rajan Gupta of Hi-Tech Audio; Yamaha’s Oliver Voges conducts a live mixing seminar in the Demo Qube; Sonotone’s Karan
Nagpal; The registration area; Sennheiser India’s Vipiin Pungalia with president of global sales, Paul Whiting
AS THE OLD SAYING GOES, TIMING
is everything. And this year’s Palm
Expo India certainly bene tted from
very good timing indeed. Less than
two weeks before the show opened,
the country nally woke up to a new
government, elected over a veweek period as the world’s largest
democracy went to the polls. The year
leading up to this had been fraught
with uncertainty, which resulted in
stalling market conditions. That Palm
was being held on the threshold of a
new era was evidenced by the upbeat
atmosphere and good attendance,
especially on day one of the show.
‘Compared to last year the crowd
has been much better,’ said QSC’s
Sushil John. ‘The customers are
more serious and more willing to
understand the product line. Last
year there was quantity, but in terms
of business it didn’t really happen,
so we’re hoping this year it will
convert into actual business. The
new government has come in and
the festival season starts in a couple
of months, so people are looking at
buying and are interested to know
what’s new. Things are moving
again.’
Added Karan Nagpal, general
manager at Sonotone, ‘Footfall has
been tremendous; it’s been a good
chance for us to get in touch with our
end users, to know what they want.
There’s been great feedback, so we
FBT’s Roberto Mataloni with Delhi
Light and Music’s Pooran Rawat
know what to look at for next year,
how to strategise and what products
to launch in the near future. The
organisation and quality of crowd has
been a lot better this year.’
Con rmations that the show
is maturing in tandem with the
Indian market were everywhere.
‘Palm has grown every year,’ said
Tushar Srivasta, from Bosch India,
showcasing the Electro-Voice EDX
line of powered loudspeakers. ‘The
interactions have grown better, visitor
pro les are better and this year we’re
getting really good enquiries. The
market has become more mature
and people are understanding it
more.’
126 PRO AUDIO ASIA July–August 2014
The abundance of newly-released
products was strong evidence that
manufacturers are taking Palm
Expo India seriously. A JBL VTX line
array system, Soundcraft Vi3000
console and dbx DriveRack PA2
loudspeaker management system
were centre stage on the Harman
Pro stand. Further new products
were deployed in the Harman Live
Arena which hosted a range of Indian
artists throughout the three days.
‘We’ve changed the whole focus for
India,’ said Harman India marketing
director Ankush Agarwal. ‘We’re
showcasing just the products that
have been released at Namm or
The Harness Overseas team with
the new Ohm Vela compact line
array system
The KV2 team on the stand of Indian distributor Cinetekk
Frankfurt, because all the industry
is here, and we’re seeing the right
people. Since we’re now doing direct
distribution, Palm really helps us get
new people on board. And with our
new acquisitions, people are coming
to us for a one-stop solution.’
Midas made every effort to get
its new M32 console to the show,
but sadly Indian customs had other
ideas. However, the brand made
a strong showing on the stand of
distributor Dhanashree Electronics,
which has just taken on the entire
Music Group range. ‘We’ve had a
very positive reaction to this move
at the show, and we can now offer
solutions for every area of the
market,’ said Dhanashree’s head
of business, Calvin Baker, who
con rmed that the company has
taken on extra staff and is setting
up a Music Group service centre.
‘We’ve consolidated our distribution
here as we’re going to have more
interconnectivity of products,’ said
B Sirajudeen, manager of Music
Group’s customer management
for APAC. ‘India is one of the rst
countries where we’ve found a
partner to take the whole family of
products.’
Also stepping up its distribution
efforts was Ansata, now handling
pan-Indian distribution for d&b
audiotechnik, with the company’s
technical sales specialist Ben Millson
in attendance alongside a cross
section of products from the Black
and White ranges. The stand also
had a large section dedicated to
Avid, and Ansata’s Leslie Lean was