21-23 Aug 2024
ICC, Sydney

One for the history books…

Sep 29, 2016

The Integrate Expo is over for another year and the numbers have shown significant growth (and that’s not just marketing speak – we’ve seen the numbers!).

With 5,575 visitors recorded over the three days, the 2016 Expo is officially the largest event in the show’s history.

This is a 4% increase on 2015 numbers and an 8% rise on 2014 (which was the last time the show was in Homebush).

Numbers aside, what did we actually learn from this year’s show? What was the sentiment from the floor?

Well, from all the reports I’m hearing, people thoroughly enjoyed the event (despite it being in Homebush, which is far enough away from everything that it could be used as a nuclear test site and nobody would notice…).

News from the show floor suggests this is indeed an exciting time to work in the custom channel. Technology is progressing rapidly and more distributors are carrying products that appear designed to help integrators turn their businesses into service providers.

Trend-wise, displays are getting brighter, audio clearer, collaboration tools more collaborative and mounts more mount-y. Arguably there were no complete game-changers – like the introduction of the iPad or, more recently, 4K video and 3D audio – but there were enough products being released that would make even the largest of cynics impressed.

And impressed I was.

Over the coming pages, we will look at some of the product releases that we believe will play a significant role in the market in coming months. And it’s pretty much all about the network and back-end componentry (sorry, AV fans – I’m right there with you).

That’s not to say there’s nothing happening in the AV world – nothing could be further from the truth. But it appears the market has come to terms with the fact that networking is the profit centre of the future.

So, sit back and enjoy our wrap-up of what was a very good show. Congratulations to everyone involved in planning the event, it really was a top notch effort.

If you did miss the show (and by association the awesome Connected Shindig at the Quarryman’s Hotel), I guess you’ll just have to wait for Integrate 2017, which will be taking place in Melbourne, 29-31 August 2017.

Pencil it in your diaries (if, in fact, you still use pencils… or diaries) – it’s bound to be a ripper.

Until next time,
Paul Skelton

To view the full review of Integrate 2016 from Connected, visit their website and subscribe here: Connected Home+Business.

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