IFA

By Bayle Emlein

IFA, the consumer electronic show in Berlin continues the grand tradition of German trade show or market. This one goes back to at least 1924. The Global Director of GFK, Jurgen Bonie sees four areas of growth: mobile entertainment, communication, and computing. He noted some assumptions: that China and India will continue to grow, although perhaps not at the same rate; the Euro will remain as a currency; the BRIC countries will lead growth. Developed markets in Western Europe, North America are reaching saturation. Internet access has become a feature in all digital services. Mobile internet devices were 50% of the market last year.

The demand for new and better devices will only accelerate. Consumers will replace rather than repair devices. Low prices are reducing R&D budgets; the retail scene is rapidly changing and manufacturing is becoming concentrated in just a few large companies. The market will need not only new devices but new software also. Elder care and education are two emerging markets.

Dr. Christian Golke, the COO of IFA and Messe Berlin . The fundamental task of any trade show is to create efficiency. IFA accomplishes this by holding an event the one and a half times the size of Herald Square Macy's all under one roof. Europe accounts for about 24% of the world tech market and most European economies are growing. At last year, $4.5 Billion worth of contracts were signed. In the past five years, attendance at IFA has grown steadily; international attendance has doubled.

IFA has become the world stage for announcing new products. CTIA, the wireless consortium, has been examining

Connected Home, Content, Global CE, M2M, Money, and Next Gen Networks will be combined to Super Mobility Week in September of 2014, which is partnering with IFA. This show will take place on two contents simultaneously

Matthias Rose of Frauhofer Institution spoke to the Question of what Comes Next. Fraunhofer is Europe's largest organization for applied research. Fraunhofer developments show up in many consumer applications. The next development will be 3D audio playback. You can listen to this new sound system in the Audi cars on display in the CES North Hall.

This is the tenth CES for Wayne White, Executive VP of Devices for Kobo. He reported how how much he was blown away by IFA when he attended this year for the first time. Kobo eBooks are globally significant, though no yet widely known in the US. In addition to their own eReaders, they have developed apps that allow the use of other tablets. Wayne featured the KoboArc, which accesses the 3 million Kobo books with clear, adjustable text and much more. Their main product is books, so they keep the cost of the readers as low as possible. See them in Berlin in September or anytime you want a good read.