Samsung, which has had a strong presence at IFA for a long time, will not be attending the Berlin conference this year.
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The IFA starts in September with a missing major exhibitor: Samsung. The South Korean electronics giant said on Tuesday that it would not attend the Berlin conference, which is taking place in the middle of a pandemic. Instead, Samsung said it would “publish our latest news and announcements at our own digital event in early September.”
Samsung is also expected Hold a digital unpacked event in early August to showcase his latest smartphones, including his new ones Note and Galaxy Fold. Typically, the company introduces its mobile devices to Unpacked and then uses IFA to talk about its home appliances and learn more about its new products. It was like that last year shared information about his Galaxy Fold and started his first cheaper 5G smartphone.
“While Samsung will not be attending IFA 2020, we look forward to our continued partnership with IFA in the future,” said a spokeswoman.
The novel corona virus, which has infected more than 10.4 million people worldwide, has prompted companies to rethink their product launches. The GSMA has canceled the Mobile World Congress, the world’s largest mobile show, a week before journalists arrived in Barcelona, Spain in late February. Instead of phone launches in the past six weeks, Apple, Huawei and OnePlus have held digital events or presented devices in a press release. Apple last week held a virtual developer conference Instead of gathering thousands of app manufacturers in California, companies like Google and Facebook have decided to cancel their developer conferences this year.
In late April, the organizers said behind the IFA The electronics show would not run as usual. A month later they said The IFA would take place as a personal event, but it wouldn’t be open to the public as it usually is. The IFA also plans to have a maximum of 1,000 people attend each section of the event each day. Qualcomm President Cristiano Amon was hired as one of the first keynote speakers this year.
But things have changed since May. However, the European Union plans to reopen the borders will block American travelers, At least for now. The virus is on the rise in parts of the United States and flared up in Beijing. Samsung may be the first major company to pass the IFA on this year, but it’s unlikely to be the last.
While the IFA usually doesn’t have as much great news as the CES (held in Las Vegas every January) or the MWC, it’s a big fair for electronics manufacturers, especially for those selling home appliances and computers. There are also usually some mobile messages at IFA. Last year there was, among other things, the debut of the first OLED television with integrated Amazon Alexa.
Samsung used to play an important role at the IFA and presented its latest touch phones, Galaxy watches and other products at the fair. In recent years, it has decided to hold its own unpacked event in the United States to introduce its new mobile devices. However, it still takes over an entire hall at the trade fair in Berlin and organizes various press events throughout the week.
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Like all technical conferences, the IFA is an important place for company executives to meet and do business with each other. This includes partnerships for retailers or network operators to give devices and businesses the opportunity to work together on technology. The face-to-face meetings are key for smaller businesses that have neither sales teams nor the money to travel around the world to do business.
The IFA also opens its congress halls to the public. Last year’s fair had almost 2,000 exhibitors and there are usually around 200,000 visitors.
The organizers of CES, the huge electronics fair that takes place in Las Vegas every year, are still planning to continue with the conference in January 2021.
Axios previously reported the news.