IFA likely to gain growth momentum

By Kim Yoo-chul

Jens Heithecker, Messe Berlin Group executive director

BELEK, Turkey ― A senior executive at the IFA trade fair said that Europe's most-influential annual technology exhibition will try to garner support from its trusted clients at the September show to keep the event going.

"I don't agree the IFA is losing momentum. As long as we follow the market trend and as long as we do that, I am deeply convinced that momentum will be maintained. We have to respond to and follow the market," Jens Heithecker, global executive director at the Messe Berlin Group, told Korean reporters at this year's IFA Global Press Conference, in Belek, Turkey, Monday (KST).

Messe Berlin Group is the organizer of the fair, which will be held in Berlin, Germany, from Sept. 5 to 10.

Heithecker continued; "Over the last two years, we've been gaining healthy momentum from a huge increase of the quality of the international media."

The executive said the IFA, held every September in Berlin, is in the process of finding new business partners to evolve the world's top-level trade show. "We are looking for the right targets and new opportunities in areas that can bring synergy."

Amid today's trend for connectivity, he said the IFA has already been teaming up with mobile operators and chip suppliers such as Qualcomm.

The IFA is the European version of the International Consumer Electronics Show (ICES) held every January in Las Vegas.

Heithecker said its bold decision to allow Samsung Electronics to open the firm's newer consumer electronics goods in the "CityCube Berlin" at an upcoming IFA fair event in September is a result of a strengthened partnership with the Korean company.

"Samsung Electronics wants to show how innovate the firm is by displaying products and announcing strategies in a totally independent space. It was Samsung's wish. Samsung has the rights to exclusively use the CityCube during the fair," he said.

"The important thing is that this is a result of a long-term partnership."

Samsung was much faster to persuade the IFA to secure a unified space to both handle appliances and consume gadgets.

He expects connected home, wireless solutions, LCD TVs with ultra high-definition (UHD) picture quality and pricing for high-end consumer products such as curved TVs and UHD TVs will be the main themes at the Berlin fair.