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Tech Giants Gears Up For IFA Berlin

IFA is the perfect common platform for the industries, the trade, visitors and media as the outstanding order volume of more than €4.7bn indicates.

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PCQ Bureau
New Update
IFA Berlin

Connectivity, artificial intelligence, voice control and 5G are the big trends driving innovation for consumer electronics and home appliances this year and they will all be on show at IFA Berlin 6-11 September, 2019. This year, IFA announced Japan as its first official Global Innovation Partner; and two keynote speakers at IFA Berlin 2019 include Richard Yu, CEO of Huawei, and Cristiano Amon, President of Qualcomm. IFA also has its first IFA Global Audio Partner in Sennheiser, a company that has been exhibiting at IFA for the past 69 years.

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“In 2018 the global market of Technical Consumer Goods (TGC) generated a turnover of more than one trillion Euros for the first time, an increase of 3.3%. For 2019 we again expect an increase in turnover of 1% up to €1.052tn. Especially Europe, North America, Middle East and Africa are growth markets. For consumer electronics, we forecast a stable development, while home appliances are expected to grow again”, Mr Kamp concludes.

The technology industry, however, has not been without challenges during the past year. Despite this “techlash”, the technology sector continues to be the most trusted industry, even though consumers are deeply concerned about how new technologies will affect their future, said Margot Edelman, VP, Edelman. Messe Berlin CEO Dr Christian Göke said, “Innovation needs a platform as a showcase, to be trusted, to inspire others, to be inspired by others, and to be seen by people who would otherwise never encounter a company and its innovation.”

Connectivity is the key, Hans-Joachim Kamp, Chairman, the supervisory board of gfu Consumer & Home Electronics, the organiser of IFA, said, “More and more products use AI, which enables them to improve their performance over time. In addition, voice controlled systems upgrade the devices’ skills and expand their possible use cases. IFA is the perfect common platform for the industries, the trade, visitors and media as the outstanding order volume of more than €4.7bn indicates.”

Keita Nishiyama, DG, Commerce & Information Policy Bureau, Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI), addressed the media on the new data governance models. With more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of digital information circulating each day, Nishiyama called for the establishment of “DFFT” – or Data Free Flow with Trust, for non-personal data. He said that while personal data and intellectual property need to remain under careful protection, on the other hand, the free flow of medical, industrial, traffic and other highly useful non-personal data must be allowed to flow freely across borders. The result will, he says, be “Society 5.0”, which this fourth industrial revolution will bring about, thanks, in part to new collaboration between entities such as the OECD, WEF and G20. IFA has been visionary, ever since the days when Albert Einstein addressed the event, it is also the ultimate showcase for consumer technologies.

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