IFA 2020 Special Edition had posed the question: Is tech back? Well as Day 1 unfolds, the answer most resoundingly is: You bet it is! Day 1 has already shown this impressively.
At the gfu & Messe Berlin & GfK Opening press event, Kai Hillebrandt, chairman of the supervisory board of gfu Consumer & Home Electronics GmbH ,stated, “Despite the scale down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, both our partner Messe Berlin and we are confident that the IFA 2020 Special Edition will be successful. As an innovation platform with numerous presentations of new products IFA will provide important impulses at the right time in the run-up to the highest-turnover period.” (Watch the summary of his speech.)
Jens Heithecker, Executive Director IFA Berlin added, “Having IFA 2020 as a real-life event, that is a sign, it is a symbol for all of us to show that we can look beyond. Beyond the pandemic, beyond the economic fall-out, beyond all the uncertainties. There is a normal ahead. But it is up to all of us – industry, retailers, media and consumers – to look to the future, and build and shape the ‘normal’ that is going to emerge.” (Watch the summary of his speech.)
“We live in a world of disruption, acceleration and data overload. This is why companies need to be able to identify the right signal from noise – faster than ever before – and also the reason why we transformed GfK radically to become a tech company. ‘gfknewron’ is GfK’s proprietary AI-powered software platform, which delivers fast and actionable recommendations based on trusted data,” added Peter Feld, CEO of GfK (Watch the summary of his speech.)
At the Qualcomm press conference, Cristiano Amon, President of Qualcomm said, “Over 80 operators have launched 5G networks in almost 40 countries. With over 300 more investing in the technology and device makers are equally active. There are now over 660 designs announced or in development based on Qualcomm’s portfolio of 5G solutions.” (Watch the summary of his speech.)
For Huawei, Day 1 was all about “Commitment” as Walter Ji, President of Huawei Consumer BG, Europe said, “Huawei has a clear vision of the future for our customers and a deep commitment to Europe. Our combination of market leading hardware and an open, fast-growing, and innovative mobile services ecosystem, which is brought to life through our expanding retail footprint, is giving Europeans the chance to experience a taste of the future for themselves.” (Watch the summary of his speech.)
Over at SHIFT Mobility meets IFA NEXT – Innovations ahead! , the exhibitors presented forward-looking innovations from mobility, consumer and home electronics. This year’s IFA 2020 Special Edition offers an impression of the creativity and visionary spirit of the tech industry. Read more here.
For LG, Life Remains Good, as LG Electronics CTO, Dr I.P. Park spoke about key trends in 2020. LG Electronics is hosting a “Life’s Good from Home” theme at IFA 2020, where the company is exploring all the new possibilities for enhancing home living which has become so crucial in recent unprecedented times. We asked the company’s CTO, Dr I.P. Park to tell us more in the run up to his presentation at IFA 2020 and you can read more here.
All in all, it was an eye-opening and extremely busy Day 1 at IFA 2020 Special Edition.
