Dubai: The $300 million (Dh1.1 billion) a year audio visual Middle East and Africa business segment is largely being driven by infrastructure developments in the Gulf region, according to industry leaders.

Ravinder Kumar, General Manager Business Solutions Division at Sharp Middle East, said projects in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, including airport expansions, are driving business-to-business (B2B) audio visual demand in the estimated $300 million-a-year industry.

Speaking to Gulf News at infoComm — an audio visual event on the side of Gitex — Kumar said the UAE was the industry’s regional trend setter but that the highest demand came from Saudi.

Highlighting the size of Saudi projects, Kumar said Sharp Middle East previously delivered 13,000 televisions in one order to a Saudi university.

Health and education projects are expected to continue to drive regional demand as the region invests heavily in infrastructure. The hosting of the World Cup in Qatar in 2022 and a win in Dubai’s Expo 2020 bid are also expected to drive developments and subsequently the audio visual segment.

Kumar estimates that as the regional market grows, Sharp Middle East will record double digit growth in the GCC audio visual business segment this year. He said the company already has double a digit market share of the $300 million a year regional industry.

Utilities sector

Beyond Qatar’s World Cup, Alistair Duthie, Regional Manager — UK & Middle East at Mitsubishi Electric, said there is potential for audio visual companies to tap into Qatar’s road and railway projects,

Mitsubishi Electric has focused on supplying displays to control rooms in the region, often catering to utility companies. Duthie said the regions growing utilities sector was generating significant demand for Mitsubishi Electrics products. There has also been an increased focus on CCTV and traffic signal monitoring, increasing demand for display screens in control rooms.

LG Electronics — another leading industry player — is also targeting different verticals in the market. LG is seeing demand in hospitality, quick service restaurants, and outdoor displays, according to Mays Talib, Regional Marketing Manager MEA B2B at LG Electronics Middle East & Africa Regional Company.

“In the market now we are noticing high volumes in hospitality and retail and what expo 2020 means is a lot of new hotels, new malls, and new retailers opening in the market,” she said.

Talib said airports wanted 4K resolution content and ultra high quality displays.

LG Electronics recently finished a project in Singapore called Suntec City, Talib said. It’s a video wall that is moe than three stories high and 60 metres high. The project consists of 664 55” HD LED screens, which makes it the largest screen in the world according to Talib.

“We’’ll try and beat that in the UAE,” she said.