Computex Taipei, the world's second-largest information technology (IT) fair after CeBIT in Hannover, Germany, will open early next month with a record number of exhibitors and booths to attract visitors, organizers said yesterday.
The 26th Computex Taipei, to be held from June 6 to June 10 at the Taipei World Trade Center's three exhibition halls as well as the Taipei International Convention Center, will feature 1,312 exhibitors showcasing over 2,907 booths, making it the biggest ever for the electronics fair, according to the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會), one of the exhibition's major organizers.
The IT sourcing gala is expected to draw over 150,000 visitors, including over 33,000 overseas buyers, during the five-day event, TAITRA said.
Last year, the show featured 1,288 companies and 2,853 booths, which attracted a total of 129,947 visitors, according to TAITRA statistics.
"Given strong demand and a recovering global economy, we believe [the exhibition] this year will be very successful," Sakura Yang (楊櫻姿), executive secretary-general of the Taipei Computer Association (TCA, 台北電腦公會), said yesterday. TCA is another major organizer of the annual show.
Big-name international companies from 22 countries such as Intel Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), Microsoft Corp, Texas Instruments Inc, Toshiba Corp and Infineon Technologies AG have signed up for the exhibition. They will be joined by major local IT leaders including Acer Inc, Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), BenQ Corp (明基), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Gigabyte Technology Co (技嘉), which will be showcasing their latest products at the show.
Digital lifestyle gadgets such as music players, mobile devices such as personal digital assistant phones and Skype phones, as well as liquid crystal display (LCD) televisions which are expected to get a boost from the World Cup games, are the major items to look out for, Yang said.
Dual-core processors introduced by Intel and rival AMD were the killer products last year. The competition is expected to continue this year as AMD reportedly may unveil its dual-core Turion 64 mobile processors at the show.
Yang noted that space at the current show venues has been a frequent complaint among exhibitors and visitors, but this should be solved at the fair next year with the opening of a new exhibition center in Nangang District.
TAITRA said that owing to the space limitation this year, it had to turn away 227 companies' request to join the exhibition.
Another highlight of the show is the 13 seminars called "Compuforum," in which CEOs and high-ranking officials from top international firms will share their thoughts and experiences.
Featured themes at this year's exhibition include digital applications, auto electronics components, consumer electronics and multimedia, according to TAITRA.
During the exhibition, buyers can avail of a variety of services, including more than 130 electronic registration kiosks, wireless Internet access, shuttle buses, six lounges and four business centers. And for fans of World Cup, an LCD wall will keep them updated on the latest news from Germany, the organizers said.
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