ARRI fortifies Middle East presence

A senior executive from ARRI’s lighting unit was in Dubai recently to meet with the company’s strategic partners. During his visit, Markus Zeiler, General Manager of ARRI’s Business Unit Lighting also announced the appointment of Sohail Shafi as Head of Lighting, Middle East and Africa.

Based in Dubai, Shafi will be responsible for driving growth through the implementation of sales and support strategies in the region with special focus on broadcast system solutions.

Commenting on the new appointment, Zeiler said: “We are pleased to have Sohail on board as part of the ARRI lighting team. We have been working through partners and resellers in the region and with Sohail’s appointment, we will have a representative in the region, which will help us to be closer to our customers at any given time.”

Zeiler added that “each region has a different business behaviour and it helps to have someone from the region who understands the market”.

“ARRI is exploring the possibility of having a base in the region because MEA is a big territory. We cannot be everywhere, so we need a local team to provide sales and technical support in the region.

“We have been busy with the restructuring of our distribution network in the last 12 months. Overall, broadcast business has seen a robust growth,” added Zeiler.

ARRI’s lighting business in the MEA region accounts for about 10% of its total global turnover for lighting. The market has the potential to grow to 20% or more in the next three to five years, according to Zeiler. The company has won a number of projects for converting conventional tungsten lights to power saving LEDs.

“A big chunk of ARRI’s business from the Middle East comes from studio lighting projects, demand for which is constantly growing,” said Zeiler.