Shanghai Digital Signage Show 2010: China market soft on software

The Chinese digital signage market is all about the hardware, while the market lags in signage software and content.

All of which means there should be significant opportunities for software and content providers to penetrate what could potentially be a huge market still awaiting its biggest growth.

That was the overarching theme coming out of conversation with exhibitors and attendees at last week's second annual Shanghai Digital Signage Show 2010.

Some of the bigger names in the domestic and European digital signage markets — like Harris, Scala, etc. — are already moving into the space, but show participants universally said the Chinese market is still crying out for more and better software and content.

"China's all about hardware; there's definitely a need for more software companies to come and integrate with the hardware," said Stephen Peters, a spokesman for Compass Innovation, which was exhibiting at the show. "It's definitely progressing, but there's a lot more to be done for sure."

There's a crying need for software companies to get in touch with hardware companies in the Chinese market, and for increased content creativity and services in the marketplace, Peters said.

The same sentiment was echoed by Tony Yang, the senior director and spokesman for AOpen in China. The Chinese digital signage hardware market was quick to blossom, Yang says, but the "China software mindset needs some time to mature."

Some companies in China are trying to do top-to-bottom solutions in China, Yang says, when they'd be better served at this point to work with partners who can provide better quality software or hardware as needed. Yang compared it to making a movie, with the need for hardware, software and content providers to work together like the cast and crew, producers and directors of a film.

The Chinese market also looks ready to grow significantly in the next year or so, Yang said, since the Chinese government has started pushing investment in infrastructure that could help support digital signage networks.

One of the show's organizers, Chris Lian, said last week that he was happy with the number of hardware exhibitors at the show, but he would have liked to see more software companies — and like many who say the U.S. market needs to focus more on better content, Lian says the Chinese market is even further behind as far as content creation goes.

"I think the content is the major point," Lian said. "But the signage market (in China) is still ongoing. We need to do a lot of things."

The U.S.-based Harris Corp. made its first appearance as an exhibitor at the show this year, showcasing its InfoCaster and Punctuate solutions. The company already has a small installed base, but is still exploring its expansion possibilities in China, according to marketing communications senior manager Peter Martin.

"As a show it's very important," Martin said of the Shanghai event. "We're using it as a significant look-see and learning experience as to where the market has matured to in China."

Scala also already has some deployments in the China market, so inroads are being made in the world's most populous country and its fastest growing major economy — but it's a big country, and a big market, and there appears to be more than enough room for more at the table.