Computex, the second-biggest computer trade show in the world, attracted a record number of buyers this year, with the fastest growing percentage coming from emerging markets such as China and India because the economic slump seemed to have a less severe impact on their economies, a co-organizer of the event said yesterday.
This year, the number of overseas buyers climbed 1 percent compared with last year to 34,900, the highest since the show began three decades ago, initial statistics from government-financed Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) showed. But the number of local buyers leapt by more than 10 percent to 84,000 from a year ago.
“Messages from Computex exhibitors indicate the economic recession did not have a serious impact on customers’ billing during Computex. Instead, the billing is better than expected,” said Walter Yeh (葉明水), executive vice president of TAITRA.
PHOTO: FANG PIN-CHAO, TAIPEI TIMES
“We felt relieved that the A(H1N1) flu epidemic did not prevent global buyers from coming to Taiwan,” Yeh said.
The show is expected to help local exhibitors secure US$20 billion in orders, unchanged from last year, because the latest gadgets such as next-generation netbooks have a strong appeal to overseas purchasers from big companies such as Germany’s Siemens, Yeh said.
“The new orders will help local companies offset the impact from the economic downturn and also signals a positive sign for the business outlook for the rest of the year,” he said.
Local companies also secured more than US$100 million in orders through face-to-face talks arranged with global buyers, TAITRA said. Those deals could bring more orders in the subsequent year, bringing total orders to US$700 million, more than doubling from NT$300 million last year, the council said.
The number of of buyers from China climbed by the fastest rate, 34 percent, to 1,419 excluding those from Hong Kong, compared with last year, Yeh said. He added that improving cross-strait trade ties and the government’s relaxed cross-strait polices such as direct flights were the main reasons for the increase.
Buyers from the US rose by just 0.7 percent to 5,017 during the first four days compared with last year, bucking the downtrend of the US’ economy, TAITRA said. The top five overseas buyers were from the US, Japan, Hong Kong, China and South Korea.
Netbooks, portable navigation devices, smartphones, mobile Internet devices and electronic readers were at the top Computex buyers’ shopping list, TAITRA said.
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