Taiwan is expected to grab the spotlight again in next year's CeBIT, the world's largest trade fair in information and communication technology, as it has the most participants among overseas exhibitors.
"Taiwan has always been the largest overseas exhibitor nation for CeBIT over the years to showcase its power in IT industry, and it is no exception next year," said Paddy Chia (
The preliminary figures indicated that 766 vendors registered for the exposition came from Taiwan, accounting for 23 percent of all overseas exhibitors, she said.
To be held during March 9 to 15 next year in Hannover, Germany, the fair is expected to attract 6,350 companies across the globe, a slight increase from 6,246 in this year, she added.
This year's fair attracted 775 Taiwanese companies, and the number is expected to rise slightly next year.
Major local companies to show off their products will include BenQ Corp (
But not every big consumer electronics maker will join the event.
According to an AFP report on Sunday, Sony Corp of Japan and Royal Philips Electronics NV of the Netherlands have both decided to skip CeBIT because they considered the fair as out of step with the fast-moving world of technology and electronics.
Even so, China, which overtook the US to become second largest exhibitor from abroad last year, will continue its No.2 position in CeBIT 2006 with 389 participants.
South Korea will come in third with 211 vendors, followed by the US at 209 and the UK at 197.
The annual CeBIT 2006 will embrace themes ranging from business software solutions, home networking, to Internet telephony and music downloading, said Jorg Schomburg, managing director of Deutsche Messe AG.
According to Schomburg, highlights of next year's fair include telematics and navigation solutions for goods and public transportation system, as well as radio frequency identification (RFID) solutions, which is an identifying and tracking technology allowing tiny chips to transmit information with detectors wirelessly.
"Statistics shows that worldwide IT market will grow at 4.8 percent next year, with Asian region [excluding Japan] specifically expanding at 7.7 percent," he said at a press conference yesterday.
The growth will be propelled by telecommunication migration to the third-generation (3G) network, rising wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi and WiMax, as well as the digital entertainment solutions for consumers, he said.
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