World’s largest electronics trade fair opens for the 50th time
It is the oldest of Germany’s trade fairs and once again it stands for innovation and up-to-the-minute developments: The 50th edition of the International Consumer Electronics and Appliance Show IFA (from September 3. to 8.) will showcase the latest topics and consumer trends in the industry.
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With television screens getting progressively slimmer, this year’s trendsetters are likely to be TV sets using 3D technology. Manufacturers hope the fair will help boost demand for televisions designed to show programmes in three-dimensional picture quality. The most modern household appliances will also be on display in Berlin for the third year in a row.
The electronics show opened its doors to the public for the first time in 1924 when the emphasis was on radio receivers. Today the event carries the official title of IFA Consumer Electronics Unlimited and is the largest show of its kind worldwide. Last year a total of 1,164 exhibitors displayed their products and this time around that number has gone up by 10 per cent.
The trade fair is traditionally seen as a barometer of the economic health of the electronics sector and the industry federation ZVEI looks to the future with confidence. In the wake of the 2009 economic crisis, demand for flat-screen televisions has gone up by a third. On average a typical household spends 615 Euros on consumer electronics, an increase of a quarter compared to ten years ago.
The growth of the IFA has kept pace with the global trend. The advent of the transistor in 1955 marked a leap forward while the introduction of the video recorder in the mid-1970s created a completely new perspective.
In the 1980s the introduction of the CD enabled some major milestones in the field of digital storage and playback technology. Prominent among the trends this year is the growing market for the latest eBook reading devices and the range of accessories around Apple’s iPhone and the new iPad.
The IFA has often served as the backdrop for outstanding events. In 1926 it marked the official completion of the radio tower, a scaled-down version of the Eiffel Tower which has since become a Berlin landmark.
It was here that the first live broadcast took place and in 1930 the fair was opened by Nobel Prize laureate Albert Einstein. In 1967 the event was inaugurated by Willy Brandt, the vice-chancellor of the day who went on to become a German chancellor.
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Since 2005 the IFA has been held every year after it became apparent that the previous bi-annual format was unable to match the speed of innovation in the industry.
For some years now the fair has been re-inventing itself as a forum for the consumer electronics industry alongside its appeal to the general public. The proportion of company representatives and traders among the visitors has gone up notably in recent years.
The event no longer tries to appeal to the High Street consumer alone and for traders the exhibition has become a place to meet and do business. It also helps them ensure that the stores are well-stocked for the Christmas buying season.
dpa
