While Many Displaycos Have Revised Or Cancelled InfoComm Plans, Philips Announces It Is All In For 2021

October 12, 2021 by Dave Haynes

There has been a periodic drip-drip of announcements from AV companies saying they had decided to pull out of InfoComm at the end of this month because of worries about COVID-19, but in a different twist, PPDS (aka Philips) has pushed out an announcement saying specifically it WILL be there.

The PR firm passing that along even confirmed there had been much “much to-ing and fro-ing” over whether to put up a stand and staff it, but now the PPDS full stand is a go.

In its announcement, the company says:

PPDS, the exclusive global provider of Philips professional TVs, interactive displays, and digital signage solutions, is excited to confirm its participation at this year’s highly anticipated InfoComm 2021 conference with a series of important business updates and exciting new product and partnership announcements.

Held at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida on October 27-29, InfoComm – produced by AVIXA – is the most comprehensive event for AV solutions that enable integrated experiences, with products for audio, conferencing and collaboration, digital signage, content, production and streaming, video capture and production, control, and live events.

For PPDS – located in Booth 3421, a stone’s throw from the Live Events Pavilion and close to the main entrance of the exhibitor hall – 2021 has been one the biggest and most transformational years in the company’s history in North America, with significant team investment and expansion internal restructuring for enhanced customer support, a full company rebrand, extensive team expansions and the launch of a series of highly advanced professional TV, digital signage, LED and interactive display products and solutions supporting almost every market vertical.

There have been numerous high-profile pullouts by big exhibitors like Sony, Digital Projection and Christie, while other vendors who would normally have a big footprint, like LG, are instead just doing those little portable meeting rooms instead of what are usually substantial exhibits. Samsung, on the other hand, shows as having a pretty healthy looking presence, based on the floor map. The AV gear giant Crestron still shows as having a big stand, but the company announced a couple of weeks ago that it was scaling back its presence.

I am not personally going to the event, as COVID has hugely restricted flights out of where I live. Getting places used to be pretty easy. Now, not at all. And flying, at least from Halifax, is super-expensive lately.

It will be nothing like a “normal” InfoComm, but there are lots of arguments being raised about the quality versus quantity thing, and the premise that those buyers and resellers who are going have a real purpose. The numbers of people who in other years would go just because they always go – whether or not they have a mission or specific need – will be down.

The other thing that has struck me recently is that while there has been a lot of fuss within the industry about the health safety pros and cons of InfoComm happening, scrolling through Linkedin posts quickly gets you to a conclusion that there are lots of trade shows and conferences happening in the U.S.