Exclusive Interview
Exclusive Interview Europe’s Best Kept Secret… If you thought Europe was losing manufacturing To some, the name Vestel may not seem too familiar as a major player in the consumer electronics and home appliance fields. But the manufacturer, based in Turkey, is a major OEM/ODM manufacturer for a number of big-name brands and is increasingly pushing its own name. Vestel has, for the past 16 years, been the export leader of Turkey in its segment. Last year, Vestel exceeded €3bn dollars in exports and exported over 20 million TV sets of different varieties. Vestel CEO, Turan Erdogan, a 25-year veteran in the business, will explore the future of consumer electronics in his keynote address, which is set to be a real awakening for the industry. IFA International asked Mr Erdogan what key message Vestel wants to deliver to the world at IFA 2013. Turan Erdogan Vestel CEO “IFA is our most important exhibition in the world.” Vestel will be presenting new products and declaring that we have become a major player in the fields of consumer electronics and home appliances. We are also entering into new areas such as professional displays, LED lighting and some B2B products, such as smart boards for use in the educational sector. Most importantly this year at IFA, Vestel will be displaying smartphones. On top of this, we will be presenting our new lines of washing machines, cooking appliances and all the other white goods we produce. This year is a very important turning point for Vestel, because we have become one of the few companies that has such a wide variety of consumer electronics products and new smart products. This is a result of convergence and the digital revolution, which is taking place now. But we have been talking about these two concepts for years. What’s different now? Before, all these things were academic, but now they are becoming reality, supplemented with connectivity and mobility. Now, everything is starting to centre on the TV, which is becoming a kind of hub. Vestel has been successful in following the technological trends and converting this technology into reasonable and affordable products. 26
Exclusive Interview But not for Long strength, then think again WILL TV DIE? FUTURE OF CONSUMER ELECTRONICS In his keynote address, Vestel CEO, Turan Erdogan will explore the future of consumer electronics. Ten years from now, the TV will still be one of the largest pieces of furniture in the living room, and it will still have a central place in family life. However the TV business overall may be unrecognizable certainly when compared to the operating models and industry makeup that prevail today. 7 th September, 10:30 a.m., International Keynote Area, Hall 6.3 “I cannot underline strongly enough the fact that connectivity is the key issue” Hall 3.2 Stand 102 UHD LED 84" LED Display So these smart products will be the key? Yes. When we talk about smart we are not just talking about TV. As one of the important players in Europe, we believe that every country has some special requirements. Here, local content becomes extremely important. That’s why we have been making a lot of agreements and working and cooperating with content owners, to provide our smart TVs with access to local content. We need to take this further, to allow users to take this content from their TVs to their tablets and smartphones. I cannot underline strongly enough the fact that connectivity is the key issue. For instance, Vestel is now a member of the Smart TV Alliance. We are trying to bring together standardisation with the infrastructure of smart devices. It begins with the concept of smart TV and the smart home, and then the content creators and aggregators will benefit from our consumer electronics experience. It will be important after the standardisation of the content to be able to share this content between devices, and to do so easily. At Vestel, we are helping our clients, offering our solutions to create products that are user friendly. That’s essential. We can help brands to create better consumer electronics devices that are easier to understand. What about in the field of home appliances? What’s happening there? We are bringing the OEM/ ODM experience we gained in the TV field into home appliances. Compared to the CE market, the appliance sector always ran a little bit slower. But because electronics now play a greater role, more and more appliances are becoming smart – controlled or checked through your mobile devices or TV, so this is creating new demand. Consequently the appliance market is moving much faster. How important is IFA as part of your global marketing plan? IFA is our most important exhibition in the world. Every year we participate in over 25 exhibitions, but by far the most important is IFA, because we can present all our products – CE and HA – at the same time. Our presence here really pays back. We have been coming for 19 years, and I remember our first booth was around 100 square metres. This year we have around 3,000 square metres. So we are growing in parallel with the show and are a good example of an IFA success story! www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Saturday 7 th & Sunday 8 th September 2013 27
