IFA 2017 to bolster startup, trade support

Messe Berlin CEO Christian Goke speaks during an IFA press conference in Lisbon, Saturday (local time). / Courtesy of IFA

Mobile, connectivity to be keywords for electronics industry

By Yoon Sung-won

LISBON ― Europe’s top electronics fair IFA will boost trade between electronics manufacturing and designing businesses while enhancing support for startups, according to the event’s organizer, Saturday (local time).

Messe Berlin pledged to expand the sideline event, dubbed “IFA Global Markets,” exclusively for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), original design manufacturers (ODMs) and component manufacturing to bolster trade between them. This year’s IFA will also have the so-called “IFA Next,” a zone dedicated to startups.

“To accelerate growth and innovation at IFA 2017, we will offer more space for brands and create a new center stage for innovative businesses,” Messe Berlin CEO Christian Goke said at a press conference in Lisbon.

“The IFA Global Markets offers a full end-to-end supply chain for OEMs and ODMs. This will be Europe’s largest sourcing show in the electronics manufacturing industry.”

The IFA Global Markets, which will take place from Sept. 3 through Sept. 6, will mark its second year following its opening in 2016.

On top of the 170,000 square meters of exhibition space for product exhibitors, the organizer will set aside 20,000 square meters of additional space for IFA Global Markets to offer wider room for corporate participants. The IFA 2016 had 158,000 square meters of space.

He also said Royal Philips’ CEO of personal health business Pieter Nota will deliver a keynote for the IFA show this year.

IFA’s hosts, Messe Berlin and German Association for Entertainment and Communications Electronics, invited some 300 media from around the globe to the Lisbon event this month, aiming at sharing a glimpse of the upcoming IFA show in September.

IFA is Europe’s largest consumer electronics trade fair and one of the three biggest worldwide, alongside the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. IFA marks its 57th anniversary this year and is scheduled to be held Sept. 1 to 6 in Berlin.

The IFA show drew 1,800 partner exhibitors and more than 240,000 visitors last year. The total value of the trade deals made during the fair has been estimated at 4.5 billion euros, according to the organizer.

During the event, GfK Consumer Electronics Global Director Juergen Boyny said that mobile and smart home will be one of the most important topics for the global electronics industry.

The industry expert said the boom of mobile payment in China and North America will expand to other regions.

“Mobile payment is an innovation in retail,” Boyny said at a press conference. “China is leading the trend being the world’s largest provider of mobile payment service. In China, one can pay almost everything through mobile.”

He said, “Smart home services will evolve from entertainment to more diverse features such as home automation, security, communication and control of everything at home.”

Boyny also expected that autonomous driving, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies have high potential yet they still need time for mass adoption.

“There are legal problems to be solved for autonomous cars to be mass-adopted. It may not be in 2017 and 2018,” he said.

“About 70 percent of leading-edge consumers will buy VR services for games this year. But VR and AR technologies have just started and they will expand from gaming and entertainment sectors to the mass market in the next few years.