With a string of events and services matching with various products and technologies, Computex Taipei, the world’s second-largest and Asia’s largest information and communications technology trade show, begins today, and is expected to attract more than 130,000 buyers from home and abroad.
The five-day computer trade show, famed for offering the largest and broadest one-stop sourcing hub, will spotlight such growing trends as e-reading, cloud computing, 3D technology and tablet PCs, digital signage, mobile Internet and such, organizers said.
“This year’s exhibition has reflected a strong economic rebound with the number of booths reaching 4,861, an 8 percent growth from a year ago,” said Jeremy Horng (洪銘欽), deputy executive director of the exhibition department at Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA).
Organizers expect the show will attract a record-breaking 35,000 buyers from around the world and generate business worth more than US$20 billion this year, saying that the number of pre-registered buyers had topped 11,000 as of last week.
Horng said that many of the participating companies this year are from emerging countries while the number of European exhibitors has remained the same from last year due to unstable economic situations in the eurozone.
Products set to be showcased during the trade show include the Slatebook from Micro-Star International Inc (微星), the Eee Pad from Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) and the Hanvon Touchpad and Wisereade from Hanwang Technology Co (漢王), data provided by organizers showed.
Chang Li (張笠), deputy secretary general at Taiwan Computer Association, one of the organizers of the show, said that some Taiwanese companies might have to raise prices of their products to offset their exchange rate losses due to the weakening euro.
“This has much to do with [the devaluation of] the euro. No one wants to do money-losing business,” Chang said, adding that new products will be the ones to bear the brunt of price hikes.
However, Chang stressed that not all European countries have suffered from the sovereign debt crisis such as Germany, which has performed pretty well, adding that second-tier brands will not likely follow suit to raise prices for their European shipments.
Organizers said that more than 2,000 matchmaking procurement meetings would be held between today and tomorrow with 150 participating buyers from 28 countries, each with annual sales of more than US$50 million, including Best Buy, Alcatel-Lucent and Future Shop.
A series of speeches and forums will also take place concurrently with the trade show, featuring high-ranking management from AMD, Asustek, BenQ Corp (明基電通) and Hanwang. Topics range from the latest gaming computers, e-reading to cloud computing.
Organizers hope that the number of booths will see another increase of 2,500 in three years after another exhibition hall, which is under construction across from the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall, is completed.
Computex Taipei, now in its 30th year, will be held at four venues through Saturday: the Nangang Exhibition Hall, Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1 and Hall 3 and the Taipei International Convention Center.
Opening hours are from 9:30am to 6pm through Friday, and 9:30am to 4pm on Saturday.
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