German companies will for the first time be outnumbered by international firms as the world's top general IT fair, CeBIT in Hanover, takes on a visibly Asian accent next week.
As displays are built for the huge March 10-16 show, organizers said Thursday that Taiwanese companies had booked a record 777 stands, up from 700 last year, while Chinese vendors had sharply boosted bookings from 182 a year ago to 310.
The hottest products at the fair are likely to be the software and services that automate business processes as well as wireless technologies incorporating third-generation mobile phone standards and WLAN, said Willi Berchtold, president of sponsors BITKOM.
Memory technology, new advanced processors and digital entertainment are also likely to be high on buyers' shopping lists.
Security issues remain an enduring focus, with hacking, spam and virus attacks as bad as ever, according to Berchtold. BITKOM is the German federation of IT and communications technology manufacturers.
Deutsche Messe, the company that owns the Hanover fairgrounds and stages the event, said Asian participation in the fair had practically doubled since 2001. Of this year's 6,270 exhibitors (6,109 last year), 3,293 (2,941) were from outside Germany.
BITKOM said Asian sales were expected to grow 6 percent this year and 7 percent next year.
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