The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas grabs media headlines around the world every January, and as a result, it is no surprise that it has led many to view the convention as the most important electronics show of the year. But while American’s would like to take pride in such a title, the real winner of that title is Germany with its two electronics expos that outshine CES.
CES drew in 184,000 to last year’s convention, which is an impressive number for a trade show, but it only places the show in third place on the tech convention list. Berlin’s IFA (Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin) dominates this space every year, and saw its attendance reach 253,000 in 2017. The second largest tech convention with last year’s attendance sitting at 200,000 is the CeBIT Expo in Hannover, Germany.
Both IFA and CeBIT target many of the same tech sectors as CES, focusing on the consumer market, yet CES wins in global media coverage. Why CES takes the spotlight could come from the fact that it kicks off the new year and lays out the foundation for where technology will be headed over the next 12 months. Many of the products are concepts that either won’t ever see the light of day or won’t be released until much later in the year. IFA on the other hand plays its own important role as the event typically takes place in September and lays out near-ready products destined to hit shelves for the soon-approaching holiday shopping season.
