Infomir becomes the first Ukrainian company at NAB

During April 6–11, Las Vegas Convention Center hosted the leading digital media industry event, the 91st National Association of Broadcasters Annual Convention and International Exposition (NAB Show). The international exhibition was traditionally organized by the National Association of Broadcasters under the sponsorship of HP, Adobe, and BSW.

This year the international event, covering content production, management, and delivery as well as associated TV technologies, united 1500 exhibiting companies. For the first time, the exhibitor list included a Ukrainian company—Infomir.

On some 80,000 sqm exhibition space, all the market-demanded industry trends were presented: TV and telecommunication equipment and technologies, multimedia content solutions, broadcasting and entertainment innovations.

This year NAB Show introduced a brand new signature destination for visitors. Connected Media World exposition presented the latest content technologies and services for end consumers: mobile platforms for content delivery, user applications for personalized TV, entertainment web services.

Infomir’s booth was in the Content Distribution & Delivery sector. The company’s representatives were impressed by an extremely broad scope of the exposition: from cameras and filming technologies to hi-tech display solutions. After having participated in nearly every major IPTV event, the Ukrainian team was somewhat disappointed with NAB. “The exposition was not expert-oriented. The number of target clients was several times less than at the TV Connect in London”, commented Viktor Artyshchenko, the business manager of Infomir.

Certain moments were nevertheless positive. The company’s booth had a very convenient and noticeable location. Besides, the “environment” was definitely favorable. From 15 booths of set-top box manufacturers only three belonged to European brands at the exhibition. The rest of companies were from China. Besides, the lack of interest to IPTV set-top boxes at NAB Show has a clear background. Until recently, the IPTV industry was strictly regulated in the U.S. and it is only now that it makes its first steps forward. The majority of local users are familiar only with certain IPTV services including ОТТ and VoD. But the experts of Infomir are sure that this year will be marked by a rapid development of the U.S. market. And local analytics speak of an upcoming boost in the segment. According to a research conducted by Parks Associates, the number of American IPTV customers will increase more than twice compared with 2011 and reach 18.6 million by 2017.

From the range of devices demonstrated to visitors by Infomir, the MAG250 Micro base model, its modernized MAG255 version and the Android-based MAG260 set-top box enjoyed the utmost attention. The MAG270 hybrid device with DVB-C and DVB-T support was not appreciated as high by the U.S. service providers as it was in Europe—due to specific local formats and standards for various cable American networks. OPP providers mostly presenting numerous ethnic minorities in the region paid a lot of attention to MAG250, the most popular Ukrainian set-top box, and the next-generation modernized MAG255.

The exhibition allowed Infomir to welcome at its booth all its current clients from America. The event also brought new promising contacts with Arab, Indian, Swedish and other ethnic TV broadcasters in the countries of America. The talks with Brazilian TV companies made it clear that the market offered good long term prospects, too. In general, Infomir is pleased with its participation in NAB Show. The company has successfully fulfilled its goals: having presented its offers at the leading industry event of America, Infomir is ready to enter the U.S. market through its dealer network.

Meanwhile, during the next year the company plans to focus at more segment-specific events. Instead of NAB, Infomir will present its solutions at more specialised exhibitions in Europe and other regions of the world. According to the top managers of Infomir, American exhibitions are more consumer-oriented. NAB Show is a must for suppliers with a fair market share that imposes certain promo steps and activities.