Discover the Consumer
Discover the Consumer Lifestyle World! Daily, starting at 10 a.m., trade visitors will be able to obtain background information on industry trends and product debuts relating to key topics at IFA 2009. Morning daily tours for trade visitors will begin at 10 a.m. at the Trade Visitor Reception in Hall 1.1 / 2.1 at the South Entrance. Afternoon tours will begin daily at 1.30 p.m. in Hall 24. Eight theme tours are scheduled, with visits to 3 to 4 leading brand manufacturers respectively. TOpIcS OF ThE mORnIng TOURS FOR TRADE VISITORS home cinema (TV and audio) Home Cinema represents a genuine home movie experience and conjures a desire for higher quality sets for listening and viewing. IpTV / web TV With IPTV, viewers are able to receive TV programmes via an internet connection. As well as allowing telephone and internet access a telephone connection also makes it possible to watch television. Web TV enables broadband transmission of television programmes and movies over the internet. The only difference is in the quality of the transmissions. 3D TV 3D television is a hot topic at IFA. 3D television captures numerous different viewing angles and employs a 3D screen to realistically reproduce TV programmes in three dimensions. Large home appliances – ecology The manufacturers of domestic appliances have long been aiming to employ modern concepts to improve energy efficiency and increase resource savings. Thus from 1997 to 2007, a 30 per cent increase in energy savings was achieved for washing machines, 40 per cent for dishwashers, and even around 45 per cent for refrigerators. TRADE VISITORS’ TOUR TOpIcS OF ThE AFTERnOOn TOURS FOR TRADE VISITORS Wireless hDTV The first wireless television sets in full high-definition quality are one of the highlights at IFA. All connections are wired into an external media box which transmits wireless audio and video signals to the television set with no loss in quality. Entertainment centres / media servers Media centres represent a collection of numerous multimedia programmes on a common graphical user interface (media servers). They combine devices which store mp3 or mpeg files and play them back over a television set or hifi system. IFA 2009 Digital imaging (photos / videos) Digital imaging describes all stages of electronic image processing. Source materials are digital images and videos produced by digital cameras, but also slides and negatives digitalised using scanners. Digital imaging consists of processing, editing, archiving and presenting these media using computers, as well as printing and duplicating photos. Small home appliances – lifestyle The latest domestic appliances not only make life better and easier, but are also pioneering lifestyle trends with easy-to-use, stylish control panels, intelligent technology, outstanding design and efficient energy usage. Please note: the guided tours are all in German, there are no English ones.
trade news twO wOrLds COLLIde HOw a baLanCe Of pOwer sHIft at retaIL Is sHakIng up tHe teLepHOny busIness By Emmanuel Poidevin Ed Anderson, Managing Director of Levin Consulting Most of the telephony business today is driven by the type of contract, hence the importance of the carriers in the game. And in most European countries, with the exception of Italy, this is a three party relationship between the carrier, the retailer, and the manufacturer. There is now a new balance of power shift at retail as we see telephony retail players, such as carriers and CPW, competing with CE players, such as DSGi, MM, Fnac and Kesa. The main reasons for the CE retailers are that they are traditionally strong in selling devices such as Netbooks and Notebooks that drive data contracts. It enables them also to have a larger range of products and accessories, such as headsets and SD cards. The success factors for the telephony retailers rely on their historical strength, their ability to sell contracts and their relationship with the carriers. This collision changes both of their merchandising strategies. The carriers stores are increasing the space dedicated to Notebooks, Netbooks, PC accessories and storage, while the CE retailers increase space and messaging to drive sales of data and voice contracts. The CE retailers are now selling contracts, mobile phones and mobile phone accessories, which is crucial for them as they have seen constant erosion of hardware margins. “Selling a notebook with a 3G data contract is much more profitable than without,” comments Ed Anderson, Managing Director of Levin Consulting. But both of them have common interest. They find new growth opportunities for complementary products, as well as more online services and app stores. While the telephony channel will sell more accessories and peripherals for Notebooks and Netbooks, the CE channel will sell more smartphone accessories, such as Bluetooth headsets. Both types of retailers have an interest in diversifying their offer. It allows them to satisfy their different types of consumers. The first type of customer is looking for a contract and will then decide on the hardware. However, the traditional IT consumer will go for the hardware as the main reason to buy and will then get the contract and associated services. IFA International • Saturday, 5 th & Sunday, 6 th September 2009 www.ifa-international.org 41
