Since every tech
reporter worth their microSD jack is writing about iPhone 5 this week, I'll
avoid the topic and address more of an industry issue – the increasing
importance of the recently concluded IFA electronics show.
IFA stands
for…something German and unpronounceable (okay, it's Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin). What it is is the European
CES, held each year in Berlin. I've attended IFA the last few years as a guest
of the organizers, but this blog posting is by no means a give-back or
thank-you note.
IFA is both
fascinating – it gives you a unique view of the European market and half the
show is appliances, which I don't get to see much of here in the U.S. (and
Europe is SOOOO far more advanced in appliances it's downright embarrassing),
and annoying – it's spread out over 26
buildings each with multiple floors, and I often felt like a lost
Jennifer Connelly in Labyrinth failing
to efficiently navigate it.
Plus, Berlin is historically
sad, respectful, frightening and energizing, as well as modernly vibrant and
old world beautiful in a way crass and commercial Las Vegas could never be. In
addition to touring omnipresent WWII and Cold War sites, last year I took side
trips to Potsdam and Hamburg; this year I visited Dresden and the infamous Wannsee villa.
Timing is everything
But what's important
to the consumer electronics industry, however, is IFA's timing – the fall, and
the eve of the holiday season.
Last year, Samsung
used IFA as the launching pad for its Galaxy Tab 7.7, which it had to remove
from the show floor after Apple challenged its intellectual property legitimacy.
But that's beside the point.
This year, IFA's late
season timing proved perfect to smartphone, tablet and PC makers who wanted to
preview their Windows 8 products, which will all launch after Microsoft makes its
next-gen OS official on October 26.
And big screen HDTV
makers got a chance to show off next-generation
display technologies. LG and Samsung each claimed the biggest thinnest
and first OLED set (both have 4mm thin, 55-inch models, but only LG has set a
price and a definite "this year" sale intention, even if it is only
Korea for $10k). LG, Panasonic, Sharp, Sony and Toshiba all showed off giant
3840 x 2160 pixel 4K HDTVs, and a few execs even hinted at possible late 2012
availability (although I expect the Mets to win the pennant before a 4K HDTV
actually goes on sale).
After a couple of
press-only days, IFA also is open to the pubic, which gives manufacturers a
chance to chuck new ideas against the stoop and gauge real consumer reaction
(and some
should be chucked). One manufacturer told me his company writes more
business at IFA than at CES.
I'm not advocating
companies abandon CES in favor of IFA – for one thing, the host Messe Berlin
Fairgrounds are bursting at the seams already (although a spanking new City
Cube convention space is due to open in Berlin in 2014, which IFA will
hopefully relocate to and which hopefully will alleviate the maze mess at Messe
Berlin).
But IFA's unique fall
timing should make U.S.-centric consumer electronics businesses a bit more
aware of the 4Q showcase opportunity IFA presents – even if no one but a native
can pronounce its actual name.
