IFA International 2020 Edition - Day 2

I NEWS I
EDITORIAL
Richard Barnes
Editor-in-Chief,
IFA International
At home needs and digitisation power industry
While IFA is taking place in very unusual
circumstances this year, it has to be said that
the market has not been hit as hard as some
other sectors. A report released at IFA by
GfK demonstrates that the value of the global
Technical Consumer Goods (TCG) market fell by
5.8% in the first half of 2020. This relatively small
decline came as this market benefitted from “athome”
needs and digitisation during lockdown.
According to the report, volume sales of webcams
surged at one point by 297%, monitors by 120%
and notebooks and computing tablets by 62%
across France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Great
Britain. The result is the IT sector grew by 17.2%
in value terms globally in the first six months of
2020.
When lockdowns were being initiated, consumers
stockpiled frozen food, driving the immediate
demand for freezers. In the weeks between
March 2 and March 22, volume sales grew by
317% in Great Britain and by 185% in Germany.
As consumers adjusted to life in lockdown, the
need for "entertainment at home" kicked in.
Gaming notebooks witnessed strong volume
sales of 55% and gaming monitors were up 62%
in the first half of 2020.
… An extraordinary new dynamic. Hard to keep
up with... but not impossible... thanks to the IFA
Special Edition
Morning
by Jens
Heithecker Briefing
Digital innovation
and future mobility on
the stage
Jens Heithecker
Executive Vice President
Messe Berlin Group /
IFA Executive Director
Opening
conference sets
positive tone
Welcome to Day 2 of the
IFA 2020 Special Edition.
Like yesterday, today will be
very rich in information and
thought leadership, with a
highlight this morning being
a presentation by Opel
CEO Michael Lohscheller
on the SHIFT Mobility
stage. Following this, the
German Federal Ministry of
Economic Affairs and Energy
will be announcing the "Digital
start-up of the Year" awards,
with winners receiving total
prize money of €110,000.
And while these are “live”
events, a lot more is happening
in the IFA Xtended Space.
With this all-new digital
platform, IFA 2020 Special
Edition offers additional
valuable access to the event
in Berlin for all who are on
site and those who cannot
join this year's show on site.
The IFA Xtended Space offers
comprehensive live streams of
keynotes, press conferences,
panel sessions, presentations
and virtual exhibitor
presentations. Trade visitors
and media benefit from firsthand-information
as well as
powerful matchmaking, giving
the opportunity to establish
new business contacts.
Anyone wishing to participate
in the virtual extension of the
IFA 2020 Special Edition can
register free of charge via the
IFA website (www.ifa-berlin.
com)
Kai Hillebrandt
Peter Feld
The opening conference at 9:30 am yesterday
sought to “cut through the noise”. IFA Director
Jens Heithecker introduced Kai Hillebrandt, the
incoming chairman of gfu – organisers of the
show.
“At around 6%, the global decline in sales in the
first half of the year was quite moderate compared
to other industries. This is thanks to both the
innovative strength of our industry and the fact
that the home electronics sectors offer a large
number of technical products for staying at home
that have become increasingly in demand during
the crisis,” said Hillebrandt.
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Peter Feld, CEO of GfK, announced a new
partnership between his organisation and IFA.
“Together, we firmly believe that we can reinject
significant growth for the industry into the market.”
Feld says the key is in providing the “right signal
from the noise”. He said with 83% of shoppers
changing the way they buy since the arrival of
Covid-19, the three key elements affecting the
market are “disruption, acceleration, and data
overflow”
2 IFA INTERNATIONAL • FRIDAY 4 TH SEPTEMBER 2020
www.ifa-international.org