Being In Europe Full Time Generating Business For Chinese LED Display Vendor Dahua

November 15, 2023 by Dave Haynes

I get inundated daily by emails and Linkedin requests from Chinese LED manufacturers I’ve never heard of, while just about every LED project I write about – if it is outside of China – uses product from a relatively short list of major Chinese vendors like Absen, Leyard, Sansi and Unilumin.

So it’s interesting to see an unfamiliar Chinese LED brand seemingly making some traction with European projects.

Dahua Technology is based in Hangzhou but has a European division and offices in both Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as integration partners like the Dutch firm Kitt Engineering. Kitt is getting Dahua into deployments in that region, including high profile work with media owner Ocean Outdoor and Westfield’s Mall of the Netherlands.

Kitt has done five projects with Dahua to date, with another two in the pipeline. I wouldn’t describe any of them as groundbreaking – just indoor billboards – but it’s interesting to see lesser-known LED vendors winning deals outside of China. A HUGE part of this, I strongly suspect, is having offices in the region – as well as local partners … as opposed to trying to sell into regions like Europe from a bunch of time zones away. Plus language issues.

”We evaluate our portfolio with suppliers every year,” says Kitt GM Fred Koks. “We have to. So much is changing and new technology is developing incredibly fast. You have to keep up.”

“Among suppliers of LED screens, there is a constant battle for market position and new technology. We all know the big providers and the market leaders. But it is not necessarily that they are also at the forefront of technology,” adds Koks.

True, though certainly the big guys have big R&D budgets. But I have seen lots of smallish, unfamiliar manufacturers at shows like ISE and InfoComm with interesting LED advances and attractive prices, but I don’t hear or read much about them outside of China. Having people – and not just sales people – in regions can be pretty important. I wouldn’t want to be in Lisbon trying to get product information and support from an office eight hours away in China, and also deal with language or accent hurdles.