The organizer of the IT Month said yesterday that it expects more visitors and sales to be reported during the exhibition, even though it opens on Saturday, the same day as local-government elections.
"The election will not affect the turnout on the first day of the expo. We expect more people to visit the show after casting their votes," Taipei Computer Association (台北市電腦公會) secretary-general Enoch Du (杜全昌) told reporters yesterday.
The association expects to see as many as 800,000 visitors this year, up from 750,000 last year and 720,000 in 2003.
Du expects more consumers will splurge in IT Month, as it is one of the most important annual events to showcase the latest 3C (computers, communications and consumer electronics) products.
"People have been tightening their belts in the second half of the year as the sales of similar expos in this period didn't perform up to expectations. They are waiting for IT Month to get the best bargains," he said.
According to Du, since vendors are expected to slash prices on the last two days of the show to clear their inventories and boost fourth-quarter sales, consumers should come earlier to check out the offerings and compare their favorite products. Then they can return on the last two days just to make their purchases and leave, which will enable them to avoid the huge crowds, he said.
The nine-day IT Month, which is into its 26th year, will run through Dec. 11 at the Taipei World Trade Center Hall I and III. The halls are open from 10am to 6pm and admission is free.
This year's show will have 350 vendors occupying 1,765 booths, about the same as last year, the association said.
Among the highlights are a new pavilion designated for projectors, which are hot products for home entertainment, the association said.
In addition to MP3 players and liquid-crystal-display (LCD) monitors, other top products include notebook computers, with some priced below NT$30,000.
"Consumers are looking for notebooks which offer portability, longer battery life and wireless features. We see rising notebook sales especially in the consumer sector this year," said Jason Chen (
Intel Taiwan will showcase the latest computers using Intel chips, including those by Acer Corp, Asustek Computer Inc (
After closing in Taipei, the IT Month show will move to Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung. It will also open in Ilan in March and Yunlin in April for the first time.
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