BUSINESS: SHOW REVIEW
ampli ers, Link connectors, and
DiGiGrid plug in interfaces together
with L-Acoustics’ K2.
DMT meanwhile hosted live DJ
performances to highlight its range
of Ableton, Native Instruments
and Numark products on a Clair
Brothers CAT114 system. In
addition, an SSL Live console
was prominently displayed at
the forefront of the booth and
demonstrated to visitors by Anthony
Grafton. Together with a multitude
of DPA microphones and other Clair
speakers, DMT was effectively only
displaying a fraction of its entire
product range aimed purely at the
entertainment sector.
In addition to Neumann,
represented on the N Power and
Zobo booths respectively, together
with FBT on the People Sound booth.
There was a marked decrease
in the number of transducer
manufacturers coming to this year’s
Palm China for whom only Ciare,
Fane and Precision Devices were
visible. ‘We were hoping to meet
with prospective international
customers here, but we haven’t met
David Wu and Dave McKinney
from Harman China
FBT’s Roberto Mataloni and
People Sound’s Martin Wang with
the Vertus CLA system
Televic’s Remi-Brice Magne in a
model conferencing room on the
EZ Pro booth
any,’ declared LAPO’s Vincent Su
who was representing both Fane
and Penn Elcom.
PCI‘s minimalist booth displayed
QSC Audio products including
the K-series loudspeakers, CXD/
PLD ampli ers, Q-Sys networking
processors and TouchMix mixers.
‘We prefer to exhibit at A/V and
broadcast shows which are quiet in
comparison,’ commented co-founder
Shaolei Liu. ‘We’ve enjoyed a good
reaction to our products as we
invited many customers to our 15th
anniversary party, but there have
been few visitors here this year.
Perhaps next year’s relocation and
Freddy Kot from Shanghai Broad
Future Electro Technology with Lyon
Dongqiong Deng and Vincent Su
on the Fane booth
Sennheiser, Timax and Yamaha
products, SWS’s booth was adorned
with a large selection of d&b
audiotechnik speaker systems
including the B, C, E, Q, V, xA, xC and
xS series together with the M4/M6
monitors and D6/12/80 ampli ers.
EZ Pro hosted a large selection
of products from its Allen &
Heath, e-acoustic, EAW, Furman,
Powersoft, Running Man (Mackie
outside China), RTi, Symetrix and
Televic portfolios, supported by many
overseas product managers. Working
demonstrations of ME1 personal
mixers and Televic G3 Con dea
conferencing solutions mixed with
Anya, Deva and a multitude of others,
whilst visitors could relax and discuss
business in the EZ Pro café.
Having tied up recent distribution
terms in China, both dB
Technologies and Montarbo were
High winds marred the 13 line
array demonstrations in front of
hall 1E
Clear-Com chief representative
Jeffrey Hu presenting the Tempest
CP242 system
the removal of musical instruments
will help.’
The level of success of those
brands that landed in China in
previous years and appointed
dealers and sub distributors to cater
for specialised vertical sectors,
such as cinema, KTV, live and xed
installation could be measured by
their spread across the show oor.
JBL, Martin Audio, Sennheiser and
Yamaha are good examples. Having
established an of ce in Beijing in
2010, Clear-Com recently appointed
130 PRO AUDIO ASIA July–August 2014
Phoenix Audio as a distributor. ‘This
is the second time we have exhibited
at Palm China,’ revealed Jeffrey
Wu. ‘We’re bigger in the broadcast
sector, so we want to attract more
business in theatres - hence the
reason why we’re here.’
Peavey established its own
APAC of ce in Shenzhen in 2011,
in order to grow the business for
Crest, MediaMatrix and Peavey
through its dealer network. It was
represented at the show by AV
Media, which simply showcased a
smattering of products including the
Escort, EU and Versarray speaker
systems amongst mixers, ampli ers
and processors on a large booth
dedicated to networking. Located in
the middle of hall 1E amongst noisy
neighbours meant that business
discussions were rendered almost
impossible. ‘It’s better if we hold
our meetings outside off the booth,’
declared MD Brent Beery.
The same resigned shrug of the
shoulders was also mirrored by Eric
Boyer in his new role of business
development manager at Paci c
Budee, highlighting the new additions
to the Avid (S3L), Blue, EV (ETX
series), Martin Audio, Presonus
(StudioLive) and Tannoy brands.
AV Media’s marketing
communications manager Meg
showcasing Peavey’s products
Having shied away from a number
of Palm China exhibitions in the past,
both ACE and Harman China were
prominent at this year’s edition.
Together with AKG, Intellivox
and Martin Professional are not
represented by ACE and prompted
Harman China to display these
products on its own booth together
with JBL speakers speci cally
produced for the domestic Chinese
market.
Senior director of China operations
Dave McKinney returned to Shanghai
having successfully promoted
Harman’s Indian business from
Bangalore in 2012-13. ‘I’ve been
coming to the Palm for over 10 years
and the word that springs to mind
when describing this year’s show is
“disappointing”,’ he commented.
‘The attendance has been
exceptionally low and we’ve seen no
new customers. The only positive I
can draw from this is that CETA are
relocating back downtown in 2015,
but I fear that it’s too late now and
they have lost too much ground to
the other shows whilst the show has
been stuck out near the airport.’
C-Mark’s Brock Lan went further
in explaining why the attendance
levels had dropped. ‘We were looking
forward to promoting our new
CDM24 remote network software
and two-way speakers, but we’ve
seen very few people. After the trade
show, there is nowhere to go at this
location. There’s no entertainment,
bars, restaurants and the drive
downtown at the end of the show in
busy traf c takes over an hour. So,
there’s no socialising after 5pm when
QSC Audio’s Eddie Lee with PCI’s
Jason Huang, Shaolei Liu and