Fueled by the nation's booming wireless communications and liquid crystal display (LCD) industries, Computex Taipei 2004 -- which kicks off today -- is expected to break records on both exhibitor and visitor numbers, the event's organizers said.
"We expect a record-breaking number of visitors ... As you can see, all the hotels near the Taipei World Trade Center are fully booked," Chang Li (
The show is now the world's second-largest computer trade show, after CeBIT in Germany and ahead of Comdex Las Vegas, formerly known as Comdex Fall. Computex 2004 boasts a total of 1,347 local and overseas exhibitors with 2,828 booths, the highest over the past 24 years.
Computex 2003 was postponed to September from June as a result of the SARS outbreak last year, and it attracted a record 22,250 overseas visitors with 1,241 exhibitors and 2,419 booths.
The five-day event will take place at the Taipei World Trade Center's three exhibition halls, as well as the Taipei International Convention Center, and is expected to attract 250,000 foreign buyers this year.
"As the nation's economy is expected to keep gaining momentum this year, and with the migration of high-tech industries from the world to Asia, I think the show will further outpace CeBIT in the near future after a larger exhibition hall in Nankang is completed," Chang said.
The Nankang exhibition hall is expected to be completed by May 2006, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said last year.
On top of computer and notebook peripherals, which Taiwanese manufacturers supply 70 percent to 90 percent of the global total, LCDs and wireless communications equipment are no doubt the stars of the show this year, with the participation of 159 and 70 exhibitors respectively, Chang said.
Teco Electric and Machinery Co, a major electronics maker, said it will focus on pushing its LCD-TVs, as well as products of digital home entertainment, said Louise Wang (王俞潔), marketing project manager of the company.
Eying the growing demand in wireless communication, Mitac International Corp is also set to debut its handheld global positioning system (GPS), second generation (2G) GPS, and several smart phone products and parts.
While Computex is a gala for local exhibitors to secure original equipment manufacturing orders for the Christmas shopping season, exhibitors such as Teco and BenQ Corp also wish to promote their brandname products.
"We plan to roll out several of our brandname products in the trade show this year, hoping to gradually boost sales and international market presence," Sophie Tien (
Computex starts today and runs through Saturday from 10am to 6pm.
The first four days are open to buyers and professionals only.
The show will be open to general public on the last day between 10am and 5pm, with an NT$200 admission fee per person.
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