IFA International 2019 Day 5 Edition

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
IT’S NOT JUST
ABOUT TRADE
RELATIONS
With CE China just around the corner,
what are the stakes for Sino-European
electronics business?
WE
AIM TO
EMPOWER
THE GLOBAL
RETAIL
TRADE
Dirk Koslowski
IFA Director
A recent report by Deutsche Welle indicates that Europe will
see an increase of €1.7bn in trade with China as a result of the
country’s trade war with the US. With CE China – IFA’s annual
trade event in China – just around the corner, we asked IFA
Director Dirk Koslowski how he sees business going this year in
the light of this, and the changing retail scenario in China.
The situation in China is not that
different from that of Europe at the
moment. We are facing some markets
where the industry is struggling in
terms of distributing their products
– especially branded products – to
consumers.
Europe as an open market is not
protected by any specific tariffs, but
co-innovation doesn’t stop in Europe.
We need the American companies as
well as the Chinese companies, if it
comes down to microchips or displays.
But the consumer has to benefit from
co-innovating processes. There will
be some new opportunities, because
Chinese companies and Chinese
consumers used to be very focused
on the American market, especially
on Silicon Valley and all the co-called
IT giants which promoted and created
pretty good consumer solutions for
them. Today, especially with smarthome
appliances, products from
Europe are seen as quality-driven.
Do IFA and CE China serve similar
purposes?
IFA is the launch pad for new products
and innovations for consumers, but it
also takes on the role of educating our
retail partners in how to upsell quality
products.
IFA and CE China are based on the same
principles: we aim to empower the
global retail trade – our retail partners.
Especially in Europe, it comes down to
the likes of the MSH Group, Expert or
Euronics: mainly bricks-and-mortar
stores. And of course, it’s the same
story for our international partners like
Suning and Gome in China. We would
like to give them the chance to present
quality products to Chinese consumers
in a different way. Our idea of
distribution is not just selling products
through online channels. We promote
the bricks-and-mortar experience – the
hands-on experience for consumers,
otherwise the upselling process is
not possible. In this sense, business is
moving away from online distribution
up to a point, moving back to bricks
and mortar activities again. That’s what
Tmall is doing; and that’s what JD.com
is looking for in the near future.
Tell us about the move of the CE China
show to Guangzhou.
We decided to move to Guangzhou
after collaboration with the authorities
in Guangzhou – one of the most
traditional trade-show cities in China.
They have been successfully doing
shows there for over 50 years, primarily
dedicated to export. The difference
with what we are doing is that we are
trying to promote an import show
of interest to Chinese retailers and
consumers. And the timing is right for
CE China – just after IFA, which is the
perfect time frame for enabling the
markets to be ready for the end-ofyear
season, when more than 40% of
the entire year’s sales for electronics
will be done. And in China there is
also China’s famous shopping holiday,
Singles Day [November 11] which is a
very big buying time
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