Security Essen 2010 Review

This report provides observations from the Security Essen 2010 show held in Germany. The show, held every other year, is almost certainly larger (in square footage and number of booths) than either ISC West or ASIS. Unlike most exhibit floors, Security Essen is segmented into numerous halls (12 this year). The halls are seperated but have walkways at various points allowing connection between them. This creates a feeling that one is in a maze. It makes it hard to figure out where one is and easy to overlook booths.

Products Exhibited / Video Exhibits

The show offers a very broad array of offerings. While video was strongly represented, the show had strong presences for all types of physical and information security. Most of the halls had product themes, including one for video surveillance. However, in practice video surveillance company booths were scattered across at least 8 halls, making it quite challenging to find them.

Manufacturers Attending

Manufacturers from all global regions exhibited in significant numbers, however attendees appeared to be primarily from German speaking regions (as well as the surrounding continential European countries). 

• The UK was poorly represented (both in terms of exhibitors and attendees). The most likely explanation is the strength of IFSEC held a few months earlier in the UK.
• North American manufacturers had a fairly large presence (with the notable absences of Pelco, Cisco, IBM).
• Not surprisingly, the German manufacturers had the strongest presence with fairly massive booths from Siemens, Bosch and Mobotix (that were very crowded fairly continuously).
• Asian manufacturers had a strong presence at the show with over 100 booths and large exhibits by some of the more well known vendors.

Activities / Feel of the Show

Essen had less of a carnival type atmosphere than North American trade shows.

• There were only a few games and they tended to be more subdued (e.g. no basketball courts on the show floor).
• There were very few 'booth babes'. The most notable exception was ACTi who dispatched roving girls to scan the badges of attendees throughout the hall.
• I did not notice any celebrity attendees (e.g., David Hasselhoff did not make an appearance).
• There was plenty of beer and pretzels.

The first two days of the show were well attended with fairly significant crowds throughout the hall.

Video Trends on Display

Video trends at the show were not surprising:

• Megapixel camera announcements / showcases were hot
• Camera standards support displays were common (see our analysis of growing support for IP camera standards)
• Video analytic displays were rare with only a handful and most of them showcasing inside a partner's booth
• PSIM (by name or offering) was very hard to find