COMPUTEX TAIPEI wraps-up with record size, scale and turnout

TAIPEI, TAIWAN: For five days the organizer of COMPUTEX TAIPEI had only one fear; that the dreaded swine flu would strike at and possibly shut down their event, the world's largest ICT procurement hub. But the only flu at this venue was a fervent fever for everything to do with ICT that established fresh records for the size, scale and turn-out.

While other IT shows around the world had cut back, the visitors in Taipei were astonished to discover COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2009 running at max capacity. In fact, even in the face of adverse market conditions this show still managed to squeeze in growth by hosting 1,712 exhibitors who used 4,498 booths. During its first four days, the show welcomed 32,178 international buyers (+ 1 percent) from 214 countries and more than 100,000 international and local visitors (+ 5 percent). The top five countries for international buyers are from United States, Japan, Hong Kong, Mainland China and Korea with Australia new in the top 10 this year.

Top event in ICT shifts into multi-industry info-hub
This year's show was very different. Convergence was the keyword here. Yes, the venue continued to shine as the worlds top ICT procurement center, but it has also become apparent that its increasing taking on the function as an information hub for numerous industries, including for those one doesn't immediately link to IT.

It is here where everyone came from areas as diverse as medicine, automobiles, aerospace and education to create a multi-industry, multi-faceted venue that reflects the true diversity of the smart revolution.

The show's multi-cultural industry link was reflected with Acer teaming up with Google to unveil the Android Notebook. And it was here where AMD launched the world's first DirectX 11 graphics processor. Asus unveiled 11-inch Eee PC Seashell. Intel introduced Core i7. Microsoft announced the wide adoption of Window 7. Mio demonstrated its Litepad series and MSI displayed its latest line of X-Slim Series Notebook. Meanwhile, Thermaltake launched its Level 10, the latest high-end gaming tower designed by BMW.

Netbooks grab the limelight
Netbooks consolidated their status as the real show grabber especially since Taiwan serves up the perfect combo of computing and mobile Internet tech at affordable prices. Lightweight Netbooks with their long battery life are now part of the next hi tech wave. And with Taiwan way out front in the netbook market, COMPUTEX TAIPEI is the natural venue for international tier-one companies to seek partnerships with local companies.

Companies have spared no effort pushing Netbooks to perfection with the best in design and functions all embedded with core processors such as CPUs and GPUs. Numerous international big brands have introduced products for Netbooks: Ion by Nvidia, the new Atom processors by Intel, and Snapdragon by Qualcomm. They team up with well-known companies from Taiwan such as Asus, HTC, Inventec, and Winstron to render the latest user-friendly Netbooks.

Green technologies on display
The theme "Mobile Technologies for a Green World" of COMPUTEX TAIPEI CEO SUMMIT FORUM serves as a great warm-up for the green technologies and products at the show, including CPU, HDD, PCB, power supply, LED backlight and NB. Intel's Ultra-Low Voltage Intel Core 2 dual core processor and 50 percent less power consumption HDD from Hitachi's EcoTrac Travelstart5K500.B new range are some examples.

The power savers introduced by Compucase and Gigabyte as well as SSD by A-Data, Apacer, and Transcend all reflect the green concept. Also, solar power products, fuel cells and LED applications are also going green. Vivitek's H9080FD Home Theater is the world's first LED Full HD Projector.

Self branding
At COMPUTEX TAIPEI the writing is on the wall. Taiwanese are increasingly heading for self branding. That's seen as Acer readies to overtake Dell as the worlds second-largest PC maker after Hewlett-Packard. Taiwanese started by making products for everyone else which carried foreign labels. But a quick cruise through COMPUTEX TAIPEI reveals That Taiwanese companies are rapidly building their own reputations as technology leaders.

Perhaps, the best example would be Eee PC from Asustek which has rendered the netbook, the hottest selling PC on the market. And nearby is Mediateck which brands their own driver chips, storage chips, designing chips for wireless communications and high-definition digital televisions.

Design and innovation soaring with high-tech trends
COMPUTEX TAIPEI design & innovation awards Ceremony announced its five Gold Award Winners at the international pre-show press conference on June 1. The event highlights the importance of design and innovation in today's ICT world. Thermaltake launched Level 10 Extreme Gaming Station of strong performance and brilliant designa brainchild by the company, AMD, and design consultancy BMW Group DesignworksUSA. Acer introduced its Netbook with Google's Android.

Microsoft strongly promotes Window 7, while around 60 hardware and software partners introduce a number of outstanding operations features onto a variety of practical consumer products. Real-time, interactive, graphic interface are some key features for next generation communications.

Procurement match-making meetings generating $700 million
This year, TAITRA arranged more than 2,000 1-on-1 procurement match-making meetings in three show days. These procurement meetings generated on-site business worth a projected $ 100 million dollars and create $700 million in follow-up business. (This year's three-day affair added an extra day to previous two-day events and attracted 256 overseas companies from 42 countries).

Leader talks were 256 representatives from top firms (invited by Taiwan's Foreign Ministry and TAITRA) with annual sales exceeding US$10 million from 42 countries. Many firms represented emerging markets such as Turkey, Argentina, Russia, India and the UAE. Among them, 20 were from key names such as SIEMENS and Alcatel-Lucen (Germany), Best Buy and Future Shop (Canada), ESPRINET (Italy), and Ryoden (Japan) all globally recognized buyers.

Most buyers showed great interest in notebooks, netbooks, GPS, LCD Monitor, POS, etc. And for them visiting COMPUTEX TAIPEI always lets them source the latest ICT products from the best suppliers. Small- and medium-sized exhibitors agree that COMPUTEX TAIPEI offer the best opportunity for them to approach the SVIP buyers, so key players such as A-Data, Asus, Ritek, and Genius were also at the meetings to seek new clients.

Newest technologies discussed and insights exchanged
This year's COMPUTEX TAIPEI CEO SUMMIT FORUM enjoyed the presence of high-ranking executives from Asus, ARM, Google, HP and TI as keynote speakers and panelists. Around 200 people participated in the event themed "Mobile Technologies for a Green World." COMPUTEX TAIPEI FORUM also had numerous high-ranking officials share their new ideas. Nearly 7,000 participated in 90 forum sessions:

Microsoft forum featured a keynote speech entitled "Windows Makes Life Simpler" by Steven Guggenheimer, Corporate Vice President, Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Division attracted 3,300 attendees. There was also the "Future NOW" presentation at e21FORUM 2009 led by Sean Maloney, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing at Intel, and green technology panel discussion to share green business strategies with Taiwan enterprises.

DRAMeXchange Compuforum 2009 "Survival Battle - Process Migration and Performance" discussed hot topics surrounding the DRAM, NAND Flash, and SSD industries and was joined by 250 leading memory makers, module manufacturers, PC OEMs and financial analysts.

"Enabling the 3C World of Quadplay" was the theme for NGN Forum 2009. 660 people participated in the event discussing how in an all- IP network era, fixed line, mobile, Internet and television have begun to carry out an unprecedented large integration, leading us to whole new life experience, multiple services and business models.

For this year's DIGITIMES COMPUTEX FORUM, the theme of June 3 was Mobile Technology and Design, bringing in the latest mobile market and technology. The discussion on June 4 focused on industrial trends and application of digital signage. In total, around 600 people participated in the show.

COMPUTEX TAIPEI to celebrate 30th anniversary in 2010
First held in 1981, COMPUTEX TAIPEI will celebrate its 30th birthday in 2010. For the past 29 years, COMPUTEX TAIPEI has transformed itself into not only the world's leading ICT procurement platform, but also a perfect world stage for new product and technology launches from home and abroad.

Step into the ICT future next June 1 to June 5 when TAITRA turns on COMPUTEX TAIPEI 2010.

Source: ACN Newswire