Advanced computer networking products, display technologies and mobile applications will dominate Computex Taipei 2003. The exhibition begins today and runs through Friday at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Halls I, II and III.
Information technology industry representatives from around the world have come to Taipei to participate in the world's third-largest computer trade show to showcase state-of-the-art products and to look for business opportunities.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"Computex has built on its success and the number of participants continues to reach record highs each year," Chao Yung-chuan (趙永全), president of the China External Trade Development Council (CETRA, 外貿協會), the event's co-organizer, said yesterday.
"Computex last year attracted some 24,300 foreign buyers and we hope this year the number will reach a pleasant level or even increase," Chiao said.
During the course of its 23-year history, Computex has gained in importance and is one of the three most well-known computer shows in the world. The other two are CeBIT in Germany and Comdex Fall in the US.
"Computex has become a Mecca for the world's computer-related product manufacturers and technology developers," Chao said.
This year CETRA is projecting the number of participating foreign buyers to exceed 25,000, but the rescheduling of Computex from June to September and the opening of CeBIT Asia in Shanghai between Sept. 18 and Sept. 21 may have an impact on the number of buyers for Computex.
"Many foreign buyers may have already decided their schedules and finalized orders following the event's rescheduling," Chao said. Nevertheless, the event is estimated to bring in more than US$30 billion worth of business opportunities for Taiwanese IT manufacturers, he added.
Originally slated for early June, CETRA was forced to postpone Computex because of the outbreak of SARS. The epidemic claimed 84 lives from 671 infections in Taiwan during the second quarter, making the nation the third worst-hit area after China and Hong Kong.
In an effort to meet the growing demand for booth space, the organizers opened the newly-finished Exhibition Hall III, located between the Grand Hyatt Taipei and the New York, New York shopping center, to accommodate another 400 booths.
To date, 1,241 local and overseas exhibitors have set up 2,419 booths for this year's trade show, up 12 percent and 5 percent respectively over the previous year, according to CETRA.
Foreign companies from 19 countries across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East have 267 booths at the event. Some of the better-known overseas companies represented at Computex are Royal Philips Electronics NV, Texas Instruments Inc, Intel Corp and National Semiconductor Corp.
Taiwanese manufacturers such as Acer Inc, BenQ Corp (
In addition, the organizers have arranged a series of speeches and panel discussions about industry trends and innovations at the Taipei International Convention Center.
This afternoon, Jason Chen (陳俊聖), Intel's vice president of sales and marketing, and Greg Jones, TI's general manager of DSL (digital signal line) business unit, will talk about opportunities in the communications sector, followed by a discussion on mobile society by TI CEO Thomas Engibous and Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) Chairman Hochen Tan (賀陳旦).
Tomorrow morning "the high-tech forum" will feature speakers from the Linksys Group, CyberTAN Technology, Atheors Communications and ZyDAS Technology to discuss the wireless trend in global industry.
Computex Taipei 2003 runs from 9am to 5am starting today to Thursday for company representatives, and will open to the public with a NT$200 admission fee on Friday from 9am to 7pm.
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