News EDITORIAL
News EDITORIAL Hans-Joachim Kamp Chairman of the supervisory board, gfu consumer and home electronics Richard Barnes Editor-In-Chief What’s All The Fuss About? Much like the years of essential announcements at this show in the past – like the arrival of colour TV or MP3 (just to name a couple), those at IFA this year will look back at the show in years to come and say “Wow… I was there”. Intel’s Kirk Skaugen - back for a 2015 press conference, underlines that this is a “pivotal moment”. Indeed the new 5th generation Intel Core processor is said to be up to ten times faster at some tasks than those we’ve been used to using. Wow. Yes, it means new experiences on new PCs like the Toshiba Satellite Radius 12 are sure to rekindle the PC industry. Processing power is important as more and more devices “get smart” and connected, but also in the TV world, which has been suffering for a want of “oomph” ever since the onset of 4K. As 8K screens arrive, if they don’t have MASSIVE processing power, users will only be able to watch VERY slow moving images. The IT world and CE world thus become even more integrated. Just like MP3 or colour TV, when there was little global fanfare, again today, many don’t see what all the fuss is about. But those lucky enough to be here will tell their friends and colleagues – in years to come – why this edition of IFA was so important. New Name, New Blood, New Outlook The world’s biggest technical consumer goods show underlines renewed industry growth – and a new look industry association IFA’s official opening press conference on Wednesday September 2, 2015 underlined the fact that the technical consumer goods industry is back into a strong growth period this year. The health of the industry is reflected by new blood in the industry association as well. The conference was launched with the announcement that the association running the IFA show has changed its name: henceforth known as “gfu consumer and home electronics”. Furthermore, two new members have joined: BSH and Miele, bringing to 14 the total number of associates. In his opening comments, Hans-Joachim Kamp, chairman of the supervisory board of the association, stated that the global industry is forecast to grow by 14% in 2015, from 783bn to 891bn Euros total volume. Highest growth is in the Middle East and Africa, with a forecast rise of 27%, with North America taking second place (+22%). As for Western Europe, Mr Kamp said around 4% growth was expected. Asia remains the biggest market for technical consumer goods. Growth in emerging Asia is running at 17% this year, while developed Asia should finish the year with +13% growth. In terms of product grouping, when looking at the share of global technical device retail sales revenue for toptier products, Mr Kamp cited GfK statistics, which indicate that this year, smartphones continue to dominate, making up for 41% of sales – a rise from 37% in 2014, while LCD TV accounts for 13% of the global industry is forecast to grow by 14% in 2015 sales. Looking back to 2012, smartphones only accounted for 26%. UHD TV continues to be a big growth area, with a forecast rise of 178% this year, taking sales to 28.4m units. 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