The global emergency due to the Coronavirus declared by the World Health Organization will have a significant impact on the global economy during 2020 and the audiovisual industry will not be the exception. It is worth remembering that China is home to a large number of technology factories and the city of Wuhan, where the virus began, is a pole of technological development.
Just a little more than a month after the alert began, (at the time of writing this editorial), there are already several impacts for the audiovisual industry. The Integrated Systems Europe, ISE fair, which takes place the second week of February in Amsterdam, has been the first to be affected.
The organizers of the fair reported that 20% of the exhibitors, mainly manufacturers of Asian origin, canceled their participation in ISE at the last minute, including the LG company. In addition, they have had to establish protocols to reduce the risk in a fair visited by more than 80 thousand people.
The Prolight+Sound fair, which would be held in Guangzhou from February 19 to 22, decided to postpone its edition. And Apple also announced the temporary closure of its operations in China, affecting the manufacture of its products. These are just a few examples of the long list of companies that may be affected.
We will have to wait for the control of the international health emergency soon to be able to know the effects it will have on the AV industry this year.
