Ifa International D0 250808

i n te r n a t i o n a l Official Daily News Source for International Visitors at IFA

PREVIEW

IFA 2008

THE MEETING PLACE FOR GLOBAL TRADE Exhibitor levels are up, and records crowds are expected, with massive interest from international media and trade professionals. Combined market places at IFA 2008 mean even more scope for innovations! With the start of IFA 2008 only days away, the world’s largest trade show for consumer electronics and domestic electrical appliances is attracting enormous interest. The new Home Appliances section is being fully integrated in the overall event and will represent almost all the major suppliers from the domestic electric appliance industry. With this development, IFA provides a unique combination of markets, a focus for innovation, and the ideal

“The ideal platform for international retailers, buyers, consumers and the industry”… platform for international retailers, buyers, consumers and the industry. The number of exhibitors this year will be well in excess of the 2007 figure. Innovations are of decisive importance for a dynamically expanding market.

Hall 20 Stand 101 Hall 3.2 Stand 101

Hall 5.2 Stand 101

CONTENTS 01 > HEADLINE NEWS 11 > MARKET & TECHNOLOGIES TRENDS 16 > FEATURE INTERVIEW 18 > CONFERENCES PREVIEW 20 > PRODUCT TRENDS 29 > THE GREEN PAGE 30 > HOME APPLIANCES @ IFA 35 > WHERE TO GO IN BERLIN

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS

.../ Cont’d. Page 4 Dr. Christian Göke

Incredible New Screen Technologies

If you thought screen technologies had come a long way, be prepared for a surprise at IFA 2008. Both Plasma and LCD technologies have made major advances, and are continuing to do so.

Monday 25th August 2008

How about a 150-inch TV by Panasonic? TVs are not only getting bigger, they are also getting MUCH thinner. You’ll see a whole plethora of “ultra slim” screens from several manufacturers, meaning the TV looks even more like an artwork when hung on the wall. Add to this extraordinary advances in energy efficiency, and you start to “get the picture” of what’s to come at IFA this year. Read more in our Product pages (from page 20).

Chief Operatiing Officer, Messe Berlin GmbH

“The major change will be the integration of the home appliance industry, the so-called ‘white goods’ industry. This is a historic change in the concept of IFA and we will be looking forward to it.” See page 5

Kevin Lee Vice President Visual Display Division Digital Media Business Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd …“Our goal for picture quality is to make black as black as possible. The second goal is to make the images as bright as possible. The third one is how to feel the natural colour. So black, white and colour is our goal for image quality.” See page 16

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.../ Cont’d. from page 1 ”THE MEETING PLACE FOR GLOBAL TRADE”

In the consumer electronics sector there is keen demand for new products in the areas of home audio, home cinema, mobile navigation, telecommunications and privately used IT, while the trend among domestic appliances focuses on aspects such as lifestyle, simpler controls, health and energy efficiency. IFA 2008 is the ideal venue for discussions between leading experts and also offers many opportunities to experience memorable entertainment and new products first hand. All the major manufacturers

of consumer electronics equipment and domestic electric appliances will be exhibiting together in the halls and on the outdoor areas at the Berlin Exhibition Grounds, on an area measuring 152,200 square metres. Jens Heithecker, IFA Director reports: “The IFA 2008 is widening its scope. This year the standard of exhibitors, trade visitors and media representatives from all over the world remains at a high level. By combining consumer electronics and the domestic electric appliance industry we can ensure a highly attractive business environment for our exhibitors, trade visitors

and partners. In 2008 the wider scope of IFA will provide an even larger platform for the writing of orders than in 2007.” “We expect the integration of the domestic electric appliance industry to lead to increased popularity for the consumer lifestyle products of both sectors, as well as intensified interest in the IFA among international trade visitors and the media”, explains Dr. Rainer Hecker, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the organisers of the IFA, Gesellschaft für Unterhaltungs- und Kommunikationselektronik (gfu). International buying groups add strength to the IFA The leading international buying groups, ElectronicPartner, EURONICS International, expert International and telering, will be continuing their strategic partnerships at IFA 2008. Close partnership between the industry and competent retailers is the key to effective marketing of all new products. The aim is to bring the entire range of innovations and information together and to make it available at one location to meet the needs of customers. The successful inclusion of IFA Home Appliances section has widened the scope of this trade show, opening up new commercial opportunities for retailers because in its new form IFA covers all the different product sectors served by today’s retailers. Many years of partnership with international buying groups have given added strength to IFA as a major order-writing trade show and emphasises its role as the world’s most important event for the industry. World’s largest consumer fair IFA continues to gain in popularity and quality, not only through the inclusion of the domestic electric appliance industry but also due to renewed growth in its core areas. IFA has established a reputation for introducing a whole range

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of new technologies and products. At the same time IFA provides an exciting and entertaining show, combined with a unique diversity of innovations. Berlin is the place where the direction of future media policy is set, and the thousands of German and foreign journalists who attend ensure that it attracts the maximum publicity. The constant improvements that have taken place mean that IFA 2008 will be more international and more entertaining, with a greater emphasis on media policy and trade than ever before. Its dynamic expansion matches that of the period of growth that has been experienced by the various markets for consumer electronics products and domestic electric appliances for several years. As a result of this process its appeal remains undiminished and it continues to feature new products and developments. New hall structure in 2008 Beginning in 2008, and against the background of the integration of leading consumer electronics and domestic appliance brands, a number of changes are being made to the hall allocations at the IFA. The International Trade Visitors’ Reception, occupying 800 square metres, is being moved from Hall 1.1 to allow for the inclusion of

Home Appliances@IFA. New temporary halls were planned between Halls 1 and 25 in order to accommodate the “International Halls“, which were previously situated in the lower halls at the southern end of the Exhibition Grounds. In response to increase interest from Taiwanese exhibitors, IFA will be setting up a special “Taiwan Image Hall”. The “International Sourcing” section has also been assigned a separate display area in one of the temporary halls on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds. Showstoppers 2008 During the IFA 2008 Showstoppers @ IFA, IFA’s official partner for the American market, will be creating a new format for business contacts and product presentations. “Our aim is to make North American exhibitors, trade visitors and media representatives more aware of the global importance of IFA. IFA is the ideal place for establishing new business links with retailers, buyers and the “who’s who” of the international consumer electronics industry, for holding meetings and for finalising business”, Heithecker explains (eds. See also feature page 34).

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

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INTERVIEW WITH DR. CHRISTIAN GÖKE – CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER – MESSE BERLIN GMBH

Miss IFA & Dr. Christian Göke, Chief Operating Officer Messe Berlin at the IFA Prelude-Press conference 31st of July 2008

Dr. Göke, it looks like it’s going to be another successful IFA this year but with a lot of changes from last year… Tell us about the 2008 edition… Well there are tons of changes. The major change will be the integration of the home appliance industry, the so called “white goods” industry. This is a historic change in the concept of IFA and we will be looking forward to it. You mentioned recently that there was an increase in trade attendees at the 2007 IFA. That’s very impressive and must make you very happy. Well it makes us happy because it’s the basis for us to build upon this integration of the white goods industry. Bear in mind that the trade visitors, at the end of the day, are our core customers, because they are the core customers of the exhibitors, and they are the ones paying us! So when we are able to increase the figures of international trade visitors, our exhibitors

are happy. If our exhibitors are happy, that’s our life insurance. An overall increase from 2005, 2006, and up to 2007, what are some of the figures? We had an increase in international trade visitors’ figures with regards to Europe in every single European country with the exception of Switzerland. And it was all in the range of 20%, 30%, 40%, some up to 70%. And that, in terms of an established lead event, is an amazing increase. And I have to say that obviously our concept worked out and we will definitely continue on this path. Back to the Home Appliances at IFA, people are probably wondering how important that is for IFA. Can you tell me a little more about the reasoning behind bringing in home appliances to IFA? We are doing nothing else but trying to mirror what is happening in the market.

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

On the retailer’s side, for the last years, this migration has already been taking place. In any superstore, you will find consumer electronics and you will find white goods. The consumers do not differentiate between consumer electronics and the white goods industry. In fact we recently conducted a survey in Europe and asked what were the top ten electronic products in a consumer’s household. 5 out of the top 10 were white goods and the rest were consumer electronics. So the consumers and the retailers already anticipated this step. Now let’s focus on the manufactures’ side: historically, the manufacturers had a division for the white goods, and one for consumer electronics. There seems to be a trend now to combine those two. Phillips was the first to move, calling it “Consumer Lifestyle Products”. So what is left? What is left is that there used to be one global lead event for home appliances and another one for CE (IFA)… and only some minor national shows already displaying both segments. We feel that a trade show has to be the perfect mirror picture of the market and this is why we went for this integration this year.

international journalists for one weekend? And why don’t we do this in a more relaxed atmosphere, giving us the time to really go in depth with the journalists and to convey our message in a more relaxed environment? It all worked out. Athens was a good start, Monte Carlo surpassed everything, as it was a great event, and once

again, I think our locations scouts have done a great job. The environment in Mallorca was breathtaking and the feedback we got is that we should continue in this way because it seems as if the journalists really enjoyed the weekend and that was exactly what we tried to achieve. It’s part of the overall effort of IFA to welcome international journalists in fact. Absolutely. The international journalists are our great leverage. That’s exactly what we are aiming at, and that’s the only way to convey brand positioning and brand images.

WHAT MOBILE TV TECHNOLOGY IS MAKING ALL THE NOISE AT IFA??

Tell me about the press event in Spain, some of the press statistics. We hope we are able to fulfil the needs of our journalist friends. We started out this endeavour in Athens two years ago, where we concentrated our international press activities on one weekend. Formerly, we visited some 20-25 countries, on a national basis and then we thought, why don’t we combine it in one major event? What if we can bring 250 www.ifa-international.org

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Yes, for us in Germany we have to see who the frontrunners in the industry are, but we still need support from the trade and press to explain that HD will also be a main driver. We also need to discuss with the broadcasters that they need to do more to elevate our ranking because currently Germany is #10 in Europe. In terms of IFA visitors, it looks like it will be much more international.

On one hand, we have had a fantastic consumer climate in the first half of this year so we are optimistic that digitalisation will further improve our business and on the other hand, in the new set-up of IFA where CE products and home appliances will be combined, I think we made the right decision to present IFA in this new scope than in the past. 90% of our international visitors and trade visitors are selling products in both areas, so this approach is the right one. If we’re looking at digitalisation, one thing is clear: the flat display is now the centre of the household. We have bigger screen sizes, better features and 50% of traditional CE is now based on televisions. Now if I look at the periphery, it is quite clear that Blu-ray will be one of the main drivers as it has now become standard. We expect that by the end of this year, there will be more than 1.2 million Blu-ray players in German households alone, and

probably there will be an increase in other countries... and next year it will be more than doubled to 2.8 million, and the year after that it will be more than 5 million. So Blu-ray will be one of the main drivers for the latter part of this year. Another trend is towards home networking. We’ve seen Loewe for example with a great new system. This is going to mean that people will want TVs all over their homes because they can network to a source… Yes, I think this is one of the key points in the decision making process of the consumer. It must be easy to operate and the solution must be future oriented, and that we have industry standards. Especially in the cable industry we had some problems coming to a standard and I think it was a real breakthrough that we now have a future specification, so that we can integrate this in the sets and this will be a main topic for consumers. It must be exciting that HD is finally becoming more available in Europe.

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

On the other hand we expect more consumer and trade visitors. We are also expecting more than 3 billion euros in sales orders in the end. So is it not only a trade show where we are presenting products, but we are also selling them, and

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that is one thing that is special to IFA. Finally, with the white goods at IFA, has the feedback been good so far? I said for a long time ago that it fits us to integrate home appliances at IFA. What I have heard now from the white goods manufacturers is that they

We can see a match of some technical aspects from white goods and from the CE sector. I am 100% sure that in 2009 it will be even much bigger. So I guess to conclude, we can really call it the lifestyle show. Yes, it’s not only a lifestyle show but it’s also an entertainment show. One thing is clear… Cooking shows are amongst the most popular on TV and I’m sure the white goods industry will bring their Michelin Star chefs and demonstrate this very well.

SHHHH!!... WANT LESS NOISE? LESS VIDEO NOISE THAT IS...

IFA is becoming THE biggest international consumer electronics show. In terms of size it is the biggest show. This year, Messe Berlin had to build two temporary halls. We will invest more than 1 million euros so that we can bring all the industrial companies here to IFA.

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What will we be seeing in terms of new trends for IFA 2008?

Absolutely. If I look at the cooperations we have started with our key partners in trade, it looks very successful. We have signed strategic partnerships with all the main cooperation groups in Europe such as Euronics, expert, and so on. They all are committed to bringing their international dealers to IFA. If I listen to our international organisation on who will visit Berlin, then I’m absolutely sure that we will have 20-30% more international trade visitors than last year and this will be a real record.

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INTERVIEW WITH HANS-JOACHIM KAMP – MEMBER OF THE SUPERVISORY BOARD – GFU

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are very enthusiastic to come to the show.

Technical and Scientific Forum (TWF) Hall 5.3 (Booth #22)

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PROGRESSION OF IFA FINDS CONTINUALLY GROWING INTEREST AMONG WORLD MEDIA

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NEW RECORDS IN PRESS ATTENDANCE ON CARDS

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PETER WEBER – CHAIRMAIN OF THE PRESS WORKING GROUP – INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION Already at preview press events IFA 2008 has had the press “buzzing” about this, the biggest show of its kind in the world. We sought out the latest pre-show trends from Peter Weber, chairman of the Press working group at the Industry Association, which runs IFA (via GFU)… and also chairman of the IFA communications group. We asked Mr Weber how media interest is progressing from his point of view…

We have been seeing growth for several years and due to our efforts, we have been seeing much more of a response from international journalists. Last year was record breaking. We had more than 90 dailies from outside Germany coming to Berlin to report on the show. We had TV and radio groups from all over the globe, so this is a clear indicator that IFA is the world-leading event in this industry. We believe we will have even more journalists in Berlin this year than in the past. Of course, the advantage with Berlin is that it’s not limited like some other major cities in which events like this are held. Berlin is an ideal city for such an event like this. The fairgrounds are, up to now, big enough, the city is very vibrant… so for everybody it is worth coming to. There are a lot of hotels at reasonable prices in the city, so it’s a great argument for the location. How important is it for IFA to become more and more international? It is interesting and important because from the exhibitor’s side, we can no longer afford

local shows on a national level. This means too much investment, taking too much money and manpower. So we need one central buying platform, which is an advantage that IFA provides. This is a buying event, so retailers all over Europe are coming to Berlin to buy their products. This is very important, as Europe for many companies is one of the most important markets in the world.

the important retailers are selling both product groups so for them it’s an ideal place to shop. We will also be getting more retailers because some of the smaller European retailers that are interested in coming to IFA, but not purely for CE products. So if we combine it, it’s worth a trip to Berlin, especially as we also have special all-inclusive travel packages for them from several major cities.

And of course, retailers are strongly encouraged to come here through incentives.

A final word here, really catching on this year at IFA is the green aspect.

There are a lot of incentives from the fair organisers and from the ten European buying groups. Some companies are flying in planeloads of retailers to shop at Berlin and so we are planning a complete program for the retailers. These are our VIP guests and we roll out the red carpet for them. They really feel accepted and honoured in this role as customers and that is then reflected in the show’s results. We are selling products for several billion euros at the show floor and this is important for us as exhibitors. The addition of home appliances is attracting a lot of interest as well. How has the reaction been? It has been very positive on all levels. From the industry side, this just mirrors the development some companies have where both areas, Home Appliances and CE, have merged. On the retailers’ side, we see the same development. Most of

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

Read, watch and listen... To all the information from IFA 2008 at www.ifa-international.org i n te r n a t i o n a l Official Daily News Source for International Visitors at IFA

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Official Daily Video Source for International Visitors at IFA

Yes, there is a global discussion about the environment. Everybody in the political arena, as well as NGOs, are talking about green issues. We as an industry have done our homework. For us, this is not a new topic, as we have been working on it for many years. Companies like Panasonic are already in their second 10-year green plan with clearly defined parameters on product development. So we are prepared for this discussion, but many of these topics are quite complex. For example, you cannot reduce a product just in power consumption. You have to respect new technologies, new screen sizes, and you have to see the complete lifecycle of these products; from sourcing of products through manufacturing through life cycle and then in the end, how to dispose or reuse them properly. So our challenge is to show the world that we are making progress and that we are intent on trying to protect the environment. But it’s not so easy to judge. www.ifa-international.org

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MARKETS & TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

THE BROWN AND WHITE GOODS INDUSTRY OUTLOOK JÜRGEN BOYNY - DIVISION MANAGER - GFK

How do you see the outlook for the CE market and the white goods market? Mainly the CE market as we have seen is booming, because of the changing technology. Some regions worldwide have a high level of flat TV screens but meanwhile we have other regions, Brazil for example where 90% of the TV sets sold are still CRT. You can even take China, where only 38% are LCD screens so the potential of the CE market is mainly at the moment influenced by the change of technology in the main sector and TV is the main sector of the CE market. But there are, of course, other challenges in addition to the innovative products. It’s not only the TV but with display technology. People will have more displays around themselves, for example car navigation. There will be more and more displays in the house. Why not in the bathroom, kitchen, living rooms or any of the other rooms? One of the main statistics that was very interesting

was the trend over the last ten years in TV purchasing not only were a lot more TVs purchased but the average purchase price is a lot more at well. This is a happy situation for the TV industry; to convince the consumer on one hand to buy more TV sets and in addition to spend more money for the TV sets. Consumers are asking for bigger screen sizes. We have been afraid a few years ago that a 40-inch or a 50-inch screen size would not fit in a living room but consumers have been adaptive. If they can get a big screen size, they buy a big screen size. In terms of revenue and turnover in the past ten years we have a growth of over 100%. One of the other very difficult things for people to come to terms with is the different channels to market. And this is one of the issues being dealt at IFA. What are the problems with the channel to market in the CE industry?

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

The CE industry has the challenge of internet sales. Why do people buy on the internet? They want to save money, first of all. But we learned meanwhile that it’s not only the 30 euros DVD player that is bought the internet but also the big plasma TVs. Here they try to save 100 euros in addition to a convenience aspect because they can’t fit in their cars and with the internet there is also a delivery aspect which they might have to pay for but they know it will be delivered. So it’s a price and convenience aspect. Talking about home appliances now, Europe is very different from other world markets in terms of home appliances, which is probably why IFA is so interested in this market. Tell me about the differences between Europe and the other markets. The European white goods market is a very high-tech market. This convenience aspect has been around for many years. People want to have an easy to use washing machine with energy saving capacities, so of course there is a demand in the white good sector for a high tech product. With other regions around the world, if you take Asia for example, people do not look for a washing machine because they mostly hand wash their clothes. In the United States, though, it’s a different market. The only thing that seems to matter is the

American market is the size, although now they are becoming more environmentally conscious. This will also be, even for the US, a big challenge in the mind of the consumers and

afterwards the retailers to look for a product that is efficient and saves energy, but still has all the comforts and advantages they are used to.

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MARKETS & TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

HIGHER RESOLUTION AND INTERNET CAPABILITIES WILL BE ESSENTIAL FOR CONTINUED TV MARKET GROWTH IN 2009 & BEYOND DISPLAYSEARCH TOPICAL REPORT INDICATES KEY TRENDS

The latest topical report from DisplaySearch, “TV Evolution: Specifications, Applications & Strategies”, highlights the key trends that TV brands, OEMs and ODMs need to understand to ensure continued growth in 2009 and beyond. “The TV market continues to boom in 2008, driven by falling TV prices, the DTV transition and the demand for higher resolution,” noted Calvin Hsieh, DisplaySearch Director of Research. “However, our research shows that the growth of the market will peak between 2009 and 2011. Thereafter, growth will be limited without the development of new, enhanced features for TVs, such as higher resolutions, expanded broadband infrastructure, internet connectivity, versatile applications and interactive capabilities to meet the needs of the connected digital home of the future where PC and TV are synonymous.” But the maturing market with lower growth rates does not mean that the TV game is ending: it’s just begun! TV now is at the stage of Video Processing; but soon it will move to the Networking and Communication stage. Major TV brands have already announced cooperation with content providers like Google or USA Today. No matter whether it’s for internet video (Sony Bravia Internet Video Link) or surfing, TV has certainly gone beyond the traditional critical role of simply receiving broadcasting. TV IC suppliers expect to make TV more powerful to

face these bigger challenges. Reviewing mainstream specifications in 2008, the first trend is a single chip with many features integrated into one single IC. Demodulator, MPEG-2, de-interlacing, scaling and video processing are now combined. Furthermore, USB 2.0, DVR, HDMI 1.3 and H.264 will be integrated very soon to allow connections to content beyond traditional broadcasting. Picture quality will be enhanced, too. ME/MC (motion estimation and compensation), double frame rate (100/120 Hz) and FHD higher resolution have been introduced to create premiums in the retail market. Key IC suppliers have already developed their 2009 Ethernet support roadmaps to provide TVs with internet access. This feature, combined with high resolution and a broadband environment, will drive availability of even more content from the internet versus conventional broadcasting through a tuner. For TV IC suppliers and brands, it looks like a new game is beginning, but the players seem so different! In the report, we categorized into four groups for the analysis: • Group 1 is the most familiar: TV name brands.

Figure 1: TV IC Features and Roadmap

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

Figure 2: Four Groups of Players in the Future of TV

• Group 2 doesn’t manufacture TV sets, but their TV-related products enhance TV functions and extend its applications, like Nintendo Wii, Apple TV and Sling. • Group 3 is content providers on the internet. • Group 4 is the telco giants or service providers who provide consumer access to content. These players had their own territories before. However, the coming TV evolution brings them to together, making it difficult to clearly recognize who is a competitor and who is a

partner. For TV brands, their business model now is to maximize the market share for TV sets; products, channels and marketing are what concern them. But what about the next step? Could TV sets someday be sold under a business model similar to mobile phones with service providers and customization? Written for product marketing managers for TV brands, OEMs and ODMs makers who want to increase their market share, DisplaySearch’s TV Evolution: Specifications, Applications & Strategies Topical Report will help with planning for product roadmaps, specifications, positioning, timing, market pricing and more. The report discusses the evolution of TV specifications, and then shows how new content and applications for TVs will continue to drive that evolution. The report provides an in-depth analysis and outlook for TV-related products and brands with the intent of helping industry players to better assess their potential market opportunities and success factors.

For more information, please contact

[email protected] or contact your regional DisplaySearch offices in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. Don’t Miss Upcoming DisplaySearch HDTV Conference! At the DisplaySearch HDTV 2008 Conference to be held September 15-17 in Hollywood, California, leading analysts representing decades of experience will uncover up-to-date results, insights, forecasts and outlooks for this shifting marketplace. The Display-Search and NPD analyst team will discuss the industry's most pressing topics, including the current and future state of HDTV, DVDs versus digital video on demand, the connected TV, green TVs, replacing analogue TVs, meeting consumers' expectations, reinvigorating the audio experience, tru 2 Way and more. More info – www.displaysearch.com

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IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

MARKETS & TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

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TIM BOSENICK – TESTING MARKETER – SIRVALUSE

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CE MANUFACTURING CONSULTANT SAYS CONCEPTS SHOULD BE SIMPLER

PERSONAL VIEWERS:

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Since its foundation in May 2000, SirValUse has been testing interfaces of any kind for usability. Their goal and aim: Optimum usability and utility.

The industry is heading towards more complex products that are sometimes difficult to use. So the manufacturers tend to put a lot of functions in their products and the users get more confused using them. We see that a lot, some people can’t even use their remote controls. But what things companies should be taking into account at the moment? The most important thing is to ask users about their opinions and needs before developing a product. One of the main reasons why products fail is because there are too many functions all on the same un-prioritized level. So what companies need to do is to go through all the functions, define the important ones, and put those prominently in the interface. Are there some examples you can mention? Yes for example, for DVD recorder, what do you do

with it? Burn a DVD, record on it, install it, or view recorded TV shows? These 3-4 functions should be highly prioritized and all the others buttons or functions should be hidden somewhere because these functions are what users 80% of the time with their DVD recorders. So as you said, products are getting more complicated. Are there any examples of companies that are doing a good job simplyfing products? Well the most famous company is Apple. They were not the first with the iPod, some companies offered a similar machine before, but the Apple version was fun to use with the click wheel. So that is a good example. Other examples include Panasonic. You were talking about user experience management and this is something people are talking about. What is it?

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

This is something that tries to manage all the customer’s touch points that a company has with its clients. For example, if you produce a DVD recorder, you have the POS touch points, the device itself, but also selfserver touch point on the web. You probably have a hotline… and all this should lead to a positive experience. Whenever somebody meets the company, it should be a positive experience. So user experience management describes how these experiences are generated or optimised. Interestingly enough, in the UK and the US there are some management level employees called “customer experience directors” who are parallel to marketing directors. This is interesting because in Europe and the US it is becoming important to retain customers, rather than just gain new ones. Customer experience management is about retaining customers and making good customers into loyal customers.

SONY AND APPLE EYE ACCELERATING GROWTH Insight Media have announced the release of their “Personal Viewer” Report. The publisher of the report is the McLaughlin Consulting Group. Personal viewer sales growth is indeed accelerating. Now that personal viewers (headmounted displays or personal eyewear) have become competitive, sales of consumer personal viewers are accelerating each year, up from 50% in 2006 toward 100% growth in 2008. Consumer markets are forecast to grow to $1.1B in the base line forecast and $2.8B in the upside scenario. Faster growth is being driven by: • Decline in cost of microdisplays and components • Consumer acceptance of QVGA resolution and availability of VGA • Increased volume for all headsets and headset components • Anticipated entry of major players (Sony, Apple) into the market. The “Anywhere, Anytime Infotainment” revolution is under way and it is spurring use of Personal Viewers. Key factors include: • Rocketing increases in flash memory price/performance • Popularity of “pocket video platforms” such as iPod, mobile phones, and personal video players • Dramatic increases in content availability and portability • Video viewing and exchange popularity with consumers - Increasing use of camera phones to take video - Internet video-sharing websites (YouTube and similar) - Increasing availability of video for purchase on the Internet.

Personal Viewers offer a comfortable way to view an acceptable-sized image on a pocket video platform while maintaining pocket portability. Next Generation Designs Today’s personal viewers only provide video images and they can limit the visibility of the environment. To overcome these limitations, Sony and Apple are developing the next generation personal viewer: the navigation / video sunglasses. These products will offer navigation features in full see-through mode as well as video viewing with a clip-on to block the background. These clipons will be available to provide limited blocking of the environment for peripheral viewing, or full blocking of the environment to enable video immersion when desired. This is similar to the clip-on sunglass options. This new versatile product generation will further accelerate acceptance and sales of personal viewers. The large and profitable market for personal viewers and for military use, already surpassing $1B in sales in 2008, will continue to grow to nearly $3B in 2012. Higher military sales are being driven by deployment of enhanced night vision viewers offering thermal imaging as well as night vision, increased used of thermal weapons sights and helmet-mounted displays, and the trend toward higher definition, color displays in military weapons systems. For further details on the report:

Insight Media, Annmarie Gabisch, (203) 831-8464, [email protected]

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FEATURE INTERVIEW

KEVIN LEE

VICE PRESIDENT VISUAL DISPLAY DIVISION DIGITAL MEDIA BUSINESS SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD Mr. Kevin Lee is Vice President of the Digital TV Market Intelligence group of Samsung Electronics. Mr. Lee joined Samsung as a member of the Monitor R & D department in 1987. He started working in TV sales and marketing in 2005 as a general manager for the TV product planning team. Recently, he was a major influence in the launch of the world’s best selling LCD products, R7 and R8, the award winning ‘Bordeaux’ series.

What do you think are the biggest groundswell trends in the LCD TV industry? First of all, the flat panel TV market, including LCD and plasma, is growing fast based on digital broadcasting. Customers want to see moving images close to reality at the highest possible quality. Flat panel TV -- LCD or plasma -- can provide this solution which is why the demand is growing. Your role covers visual display, and TV is no longer just a TV but more of a visual display because the content choices for it are getting more varied. How do you see the use of visual display growing over time? I think it depends on the content and how much content we can support through the flat panel TV. For example, in the past, the customer watched only television programmes on the TV. The next step was

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using VCR or DVD, which allowed watching movies. Now, with IT technology and the Internet interface, customers can get a lot of different types of content. However, until recently, those could only be watched through the PC. Now with the improvements in the Internet infrastructure, such as broadband and compression technologies, the customer can get high quality content through the PC and at this moment, customers would like to watch this content on a large TV. So convergence is the “Leitmotiv” in TV development in 2008… Yes, in the future Internet and TV are going to merge. For the time being, TV models can support some multimedia features. In our case, we call it the Wiselink Pro. We can also support moving picture content through the USB interface. Normally, a DivX player is needed, but through our

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new model, the customer does not need a separate DivX player, simply a USB key. Do you think USB is a trend, which is why you are using it? Actually, there are so many kinds of memory cards. So we thought that USB can be the standard for the customer. If they have several kinds of memory cards, they can use a memory card interface through the USB. And also, USB is plug and play. It’s very simple to use, which is why we used it for multimedia features. It’s the first step. And then we are thinking about interconnectivity and through the Internet we can support many kinds of content. So what about Internet direct through TV? This year we launched a new TV model called the 750 model in Korea. This is a normal TV, but we have

added an interface, which uses the widget interface system. You can select any kind of content and you can also connect to YouTube with it. It should be coming out in the USA and Europe next year. So now, without any computer, the customer can enjoy content from the Internet. Samsung is differentiating this year through its design concept. Can you tell me about that? From 2004, we concentrated on design differentiation. We then launched a new mechanical technology based on our new design, which was a high gloss design, in a pentagon shape. This was new for us as the price remained affordable but at the same time we had design differentiation. This was successful until 2007, but then we started to find products in the market that were similar to ours in terms of design, so that is why we saw the need to

adopt a new design concept to differentiate ourselves. So we developed a new concept called “touchable colour”. In the European market, we are calling it “crystal design” which you can see in the transparent part of the TV with the black border and the wine red colour. We achieve this design through the double injection technology. There is no spray or colour addition process. What material is that? Normal resin. We are using two different colours of resin to achieve this effect, transparent and dark red. We could not do this with previous technology, only with this new technology. Furthermore, this new technology allows for ecofriendly manufacturing. For Europe, the production is done in Slovakia and Hungary. Talking about picture quality, what differentiates Samsung?

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

FEATURE INTERVIEW Our goal for picture quality is to make black as black as possible. The second goal is how to make the images as bright as possible. This allows us to have a very high contrast ratio. The third one is how to feel the natural colour. So black, white and colour are our goal for image quality. Based on our long-term experience in the TV business, our engineers made our own chipset solution with our own semiconductor division. In that chip, we applied our own image quality algorithm. It has a wide colour enhancer and a high contrast ratio technology.

And also, we applied our Internet TV algorithm in the same chip. As you can see, the LCD panel is very black when the TV is turned off. This is thanks to a super clear treatment on the LCD panel surface. To get something with high black levels, you could also use LED backlights with alternate lighting. Is this going to become the norm? Actually, we applied the LED backlight technology to our premium line. But we are making a reasonable price for LED backlit TVs and next

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

year we will further expand this. Does Samsung produce LEDs? Yes, our sister company makes the LED devices. We got the EISA award based on the LED backlit LCD TV. What about other technologies such as OLED? Obviously with active-matrix OLED you can use the same factories as LCD so that will be interesting… I think the next generation of flat panel might be OLED,

because they have a lot of advantages and strong points against LCD or plasma. For example, we can make them very thin and the image quality is better than LCD or plasma.

displays, but only for small screen sizes, such as mobiles phones. We already displayed the new concept at the Las Vegas show and will display it during IFA.

At this moment there are still some limitations in to make the real product.

We are hoping for a European rollout next year, but my concern is the price. It is not affordable for the average customer but some customers just want the new technology – they don’t care about the price.

Currently, from the technology point of view it is feasible, but from a manufacturing point of view, there are still some limitations. Our sister company, SDI is now producing OLED

We will also have a demo of the 30-inch OLED at our booth at IFA.

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Leading brand names in the consumer electronics and domestic electrical appliance industries will be exhibiting together in a wide-ranging display on the Berlin Exhibition Grounds at the IFA 2008 (29 August to 3 September). With a range of services that have been specially designed for international trade visitors the IFA 2008 provides the ideal setting for their visit.

IFA 2008 TRADE VISITORS’ TOUR HOME CINEMA Date: 29/30/31/01/02.09.2008 Time Exhibitor 11:00 – 11:15 Grundig 11:20 – 11:35 Philips 11:40 – 11:55 Metz 13:30 – 13:45 Grundig 13:50 – 14:05 Philips 14.10 – 14:20 Metz Date: 03.09.2008 Time Exhibitor 10:00 – 10:15 Grundig 10:20 – 10:35 Philips 10:40 – 10:55 Metz

Guided tours for international trade visitors Each day from 11 a.m. onwards guided tours on a variety of themes will be available to enable trade visitors and experts to obtain background information about the current trends at the IFA. They will all start from the Trade Visitors’ Recepton. Tours dealing with the following topics have already been planned: • “Home Cinema” (TV and audio) • “Professional Media” (receivers, Media Centre) • “My Media“(photo, imaging, video, MP3, navigation) • “Think Big – large items of equipment” (domestic electrical appliances) • “Luxury Products – small products” (domestic electrical appliances) • “Green Power” (energy-saving appliances) Details about the guided tours for international trade visitors can be accessed on the IFA website at www.ifa-berlin.com.

Hall 23 22 21 23 22 21

Date: 29/30/31/01/02.09.2008 Time Exhibitor 11:00 – 11:15 Toshiba 11:20 – 11:35 JVC 11:40 – 11:55 Panasonic 13:30 – 13:45 Toshiba 13:50 – 14:05 JVC 14.10 – 14:20 Panasonic

Hall 21 5.2 5.2 21 5.2 5.2

Date: 29/30/31/01/02.09.2008 Time Exhibitor 11:00 – 11:15 Sony 11:20 – 11:35 Navigon 11:40 – 11:55 Fujitsu-Siemens 13:30 – 13:45 Sony 13:50 – 14:05 Navigon 14.10 – 14:20 Fujitsu-Siemens

Hall 4.2 9 13 4.2 9 13

Hall 23 22 21

Date: 03.09.2008 Time Exhibitor 10:00 – 10:15 Toshiba 10:20 – 10:35 JVC 10:40 – 10:55 Panasonic

Hall 21 5.2 5.2

Date: 03.09.2008 Time Exhibitor 10:00 – 10:15 Sony 10:20 – 10:35 Navigon 10:40 – 10:55 Fujitsu-Siemens

Hall 4.2 9 13

THINK BIG

LUXURY PRODUCTS

Date: 29/30/31/01/02.09.2008 Time Exhibitor 11:00 – 11:15 Siemens 11:20 – 11:35 Gorenje 11:40 – 11:55 Liebherr 13:30 – 13:45 Siemens 13:50 – 14:05 Gorenje 14.10 – 14:20 Liebherr

Hall 1.1 1.1 2.1 1.1 1.1 2.1

Date: 29/30/31/01/02.09.2008 Time Exhibitor 11:00 – 11:15 De Longhi 11:20 – 11:35 Nespresso 11:40 – 11:55 Saeco 13:30 – 13:45 De Longhi 13:50 – 14:05 Nespresso 14.10 – 14:20 Saeco

Hall 1.1 1.1 2.1

Date: 03.09.2008 Time Exhibitor 10:00 – 10:15 De Longhi 10:20 – 10:35 Nespresso 10:40 – 10:55 Saeco

Date: 03.09.2008 Time Exhibitor 10:00 – 10:15 Siemens 10:20 – 10:35 Gorenje 10:40 – 10:55 Liebherr

MY MEDIA

PROFESSIONAL MEDIA

GREEN POWER Hall 3.1 1.1 4.1 3.1 1.1 4.1

Date: 29/30/31/01/02.09.2008 Time Exhibitor 11:00 – 11:15 Electrolux 11:20 – 11:35 Bosch 11:40 – 11:55 Gorenje 13:30 – 13:45 Electrolux 13:50 – 14:05 Bosch 14.10 – 14:20 Gorenje

Hall 4.1 3.1 1.1 4.1 3.1 1.1

Hall 3.1 1.1 4.1

Date: 03.09.2008 Time Exhibitor 10:00 – 10:15 Electrolux 10:20 – 10:35 Bosch 10:40 – 10:55 Gorenje

Hall 4.1 3.1 1.1

DESIGN & LIFESTYLE Date: 29/30/31/01/02.09.2008 Time Exhibitor 11:00 – 11:15 Loewe 11:20 – 11:35 Sony 11:40 – 11:55 Siemens 13:30 – 13:45 Loewe 13:50 – 14:05 Sony 14.10 – 14:20 Siemens

Hall 6.2 4.2 1.1 6.2 4.2 1.1

Date: 03.09.2008 Time Exhibitor 10:00 – 10:15 Loewe 10:20 – 10:35 Sony 10:40 – 10:55 Siemens

Hall 6.2 4.2 1.1

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No registration is required. If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact: Sinan Arslan Project Manager IFA Tel: +49 (30) 3038-2138, [email protected]

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

CONFERENCES PREVIEW

IFA INTERNATIONAL KEYNOTES 2008 EXCUSIVE FIRST-HAND INSIDER INFORMATION What direction will technology take? What will future standards look like? How will these developments affect my present business model? You will find out all about these topics at the IFA International Keynotes - in exciting lectures from international top managers from the CE and Household Appliances industry. They will convey their insider knowledge to you regarding the latest product developments, industry trends and strategies. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to meet the industry stars and to get the latest industry news firsthand. Dr Jongwoo Park, President Digital Media Business, Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd Date: 29th August 2008 Time: 09.45 - 10.30 Location: ICC Berlin, hall 3 SEAMLESS EXPERIENCE – THE COMPLETION OF DIGITAL RENAISSANCE Keynote summary: Introducing the notion of "Seamless Experience", Samsung enables consumers around the world to enjoy rich digital experiences anytime and anywhere in an intuitive, convenient and easy way. By doing so, everybody is empowered to communicate and share their experiences with the rest of the world - near and far. This leads to the completion of the Digital Renaissance. Along this process, Samsung will continue to drive innovation to create more value for customers by developing visionary and industry-leading products: To serve customers with holistic solutions and to accelerate innovation, Samsung will reinforce its existing alliances with leaders in adjacent industries and enter new alliances with tomorrow’s leaders in key areas including content and service. Statement of Motivation: IFA is clearly one of the major events for the global consumer electronics industry. And this is certainly an exciting time for our industry, with the current growth coming from digital TVs, Monitors and other digital products. I am honoured to deliver the opening keynote speech at IFA 2008, to explain Samsung’s leadership position in consumer electronics and to share our vision for the electronics industry. Andrea Ragnetti, Executive Vice-President Royal Philips Electronics and Chief Executive Officer Philips Consumer Lifestyle Date: 29th August 2008 Time: 15.00 - 15.45 Location: Hall 7.1a, International Keynote Area PHILIPS – MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN CONSUMER LIFESTYLE Keynote summary: In the IFA 2008 Philips Keynote Speech, Andrea Ragnetti, CEO of the Philips Consumer Lifestyle sector, will outline how the company is making a difference in the lifestyle domain, one of the key areas of business Philips addresses as a leading global Health and Wellbeing brand. With IFA increasingly representing a broader scope of consumer appliances this year, Mr. Ragnetti will outline how Philips’ Consumer Lifestyle business in particular represents a true powerhouse of insight and understanding, offering a focused portfolio of products to enrich consumer’s lifestyles and addressing their real needs for both wellness and pleasure through truly differentiated experiences. Statement of motivation: As one of the leading trade shows of any industry, IFA brings together many of our most important stakeholders in one place at the same time. IFA provides an invaluable opportunity for us to demonstrate our business activities, not only in the traditional consumer electronics domain, but increasingly across the broad spectrum of consumer lifestyle. With this in mind, our IFA Keynote Speech this year will offer an excellent platform to outline what the new Philips Consumer Lifestyle sector is about, its vision and direction, and how it is making a real difference for all our stakeholders.

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

Dr. Kurt-Ludwig Gutberlet, Chairman and CEO, BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH Date: 30th August 2008 Time: 09.45 - 10.30 Location: Hall 7.1a, International Keynote Area HOUSEHOLDS CAN SAVE ENERGY WITHOUT SACRIFICING CONVENIENCE Keynote Summary: Highly efficient household appliances sold under the BSH brands Bosch and Siemens help consumers all over the world contribute to climate protection actively. The potential savings are often much more substantial than people might expect. The amount of electricity and water consumed by a single household may seem unimportant. But when one considers the total amount used by millions of households worldwide, this represents a significant impact on global resources. At the same time, it is a starting point for conserving energy and water, as well as reducing CO2 emissions. In addition to much lower consumption figures, innovative household appliances offer more product benefits and thus meet an important expectation of consumers who can save without sacrificing convenience. Statement of Motivation: As the world’s leading trade exhibition for consumer electronics and consumer lifestyles, IFA is a first-class industry trade show and an extremely important event for BSH. We welcome the concept of presenting consumer electronics and household appliances together for the first time. This approach also reflects the retail structure of the industry: Products from these two segments have been sold under the same roof for many years. IFA offers us an outstanding international platform where we can present the innovative, technically advanced products sold under our brands Bosch and Siemens. At the same time, it gives us an opportunity to show a widespread audience how our energy-efficient household appliances contribute to climate protection and help conserve natural resources. TWF TALK The TWF is a unique combination of specialist exhibition and a forum for discussions about innovative media technology. In order to increase the understanding of the issues raised by the exhibits and to offer visitors a platform where they can exchange ideas and experiences, TWF exhibitors developed the TWF Talk, a special lecture series and discussion format. Top industry experts are available here to give lectures, answer questions, and engage in critical debates. PROGRAMME ABSTRACT Friday, 29th August 2008 11.00 a.m.: 11.30 a.m.: 2.00 p.m.:

Opening COOPERS - Co-operative Systems for Intelligent Road Safety Demonstration Kick off IPTV – the next big thing in digital broadcasting

Saturday, 30th August 2008 11.00 a.m.: 2.00 p.m.:

HDTV, TV on mobiles, DVB-T, Television 2020 Where are we now, where do we want to be? TWF-ACTIVE – ‘Living’ machines, mobile games, surfing the globe An afternoon of active involvement.

Sunday, 31st August 2008 11.00 a.m.: 11.30 a.m.: 2.00 p.m.:

Discussions with the press and tour of the fair Multimedia – new vistas, new orientation WebX.0 – Community and interaction

Monday 1st September 2008 11.00 a.m.: 2.00 p.m.:

Digital radio applications Digital data – collecting, storing, scaling

Tuesday 2nd September 2008 11.00 a.m.: 2.00 p.m.:

DRM and DRM+, Digital Radio Mondiale A family of systems of up to 108 MHz for digital broadcasting Man + Machines – control, interaction, cooperation

Wednesday, 3rd September 2008 11.00 a.m.:

TWF2008 – a profile, a review

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PRODUCT TRENDS

TRENDS AT IFA 2008 Flat screen televisions in sensational formats

Richard Barnes, IFA International Editor-in-Chief (1,85 m), with the Panasonic 150” plasma TV

When flat screens using LCD and plasma technology began finding their way into the home, they were met with a very enthusiastic response. This was mainly because they fulfilled a long-felt want: for the first time displays could be hung on a wall like pictures. The latest generation of equipment represents the next quantum leap, with screens so thin that they almost melt into the wall. IFA 2008 will feature a number of LCD models in housings with a thickness of only 1.5 inches (3.8 cm). And that is just the beginning. The prototypes that are now being shown indicate that they can be made even slimmer: 1 cm (0.4 inch) is the next stage in screen evolution. At the same time screen areas are now available that would have been thought of as impossible only a short while ago, with diagonals of up to 150 inches (381 centimetres).

High definition on numerous media platforms

Large, flat screen televisions with HD-Ready or Full-HD capabilities are making increasing inroads into European homes, thereby creating the basis for a generational change in the world of television. European stations are already broadcasting over 90 HDTV programmes. It has been possible to subscribe to HDTV programmes in Germany since 2006. The public sector networks ARD and ZDF recently unveiled their free-TV roadmap for HDTV, which will be featured in a number of showcases between now and the start of regular broadcasting in February 2010. These two media organisations will be carrying out test broadcasts throughout IFA 2008.

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Totally networked media There is increasing diversity among multimedia applications. Photos from a digital camera or mobile phone, videos from camcorders, music from MP3 players or from computers, games from consoles or movies from Blu-ray players – all this content can be made available throughout the home. This is all made possible by intelligent network solutions, without any cables and of course in HD quality. MP3 players with Bluetooth, internet radios, hi-fi units with WLAN and Bluetooth, digital cameras with WLAN connectivity, TV sets with card readers or Ethernet connections – IFA 2008 will be using countless examples to demonstrate that the consumer electronics manufacturers are ideally equipped for home networking.

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

PRODUCT TRENDS

Spectacular sound to accompany the picture on big screens The ultra-flat screen trend is also encouraging the manufacturers of audio equipment to develop a whole range of new solutions. IFA 2008 will be presenting a wide range of compact, slim audio products with sound and styling that are perfectly in tune with today's home cinemas. Flat “sound bars” and surround projectors which use a single loudspeaker component to produce true-to-life stereophonic sound from up to seven channels are bound to fascinate the public just as much as the ultra-slim stereo sound columns which can be used to reproduce virtual multichannel sound. And the traditional hi-fi sector is also a well-established aspect of IFA and in this area too the dominant feature is the attractive new technology. A growing number of hi-fi systems can store entire music archives on a builtin hard drive. They use network connections to distribute their content throughout the house and, with builtin docking stations for MP3 players, the music stored on these mobile units can also be fed seamlessly into the home.

A future which is energyefficient and free of pollution The manufacturers of the best known consumer electronics brands are applying advanced technology and the latest equipment concepts in order to meet serious environmental challenges. In carrying out its development work in recent years the industry has been adopting an ecological approach. In the case of television sets, there have been substantial reductions in the power consumed when they are in use and on stand-by. Nowadays, LCD and plasma TVs consume between 25% and 35% less energy than they did just three years ago, and when on stand-by they now use less than one watt, which is only a sixth of the energy that they needed in 1997. This can also be illustrated by the fact that a 60 watt incandescent light requires 120 times as much energy as a modern television set on SONY OLED TV stand-by. At the same time the industry is constantly achieving more success in its efforts to remove pollutants from the production process. Manufacturers have been applying the European RoHS directive, which prescribes lead-free soldering, for example, as well as prohibiting the use of poisonous flame-retardant materials. This development is being applied to an ever-increasing extent. As a result new screen technology is unlocking further potentials for substantially reduced energy consumption. This includes LED backlighting for LCDs and plasma screens with enhanced luminance efficiency, leading to lower energy consumption while retaining the same level of brightness. Moreover larger, more economical OLEDs are likely to go into mass production soon, and commercially viable versions together with a number of prototypes can already be seen at IFA 2008. Fascinating, exciting new experiences and simpler controls are just some of the features of the innovative developments in consumer electronics that can be seen at IFA 2008. A more responsible attitude to natural resources is the other major theme of the CE innovations, and many impressive examples can be seen at IFA 2008.

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

Mobility as the next big trend Mobile devices for entertainment, navigation and communication are among the main factors driving the expansion of the consumer electronics sector. That is why innovations in this field, and above all the latest advances in sat-nav equipment, are of particular importance at IFA 2008. Helping users to find their way is still their main function, but they have many other uses too. For example, they can identify when, at certain times of the day, the shortest route may not necessarily be the best due to the volume of traffic. In addition, supported by additional information from the internet, they can serve as highly effective city tour guides or restaurant finders. Some of these units specialize in providing guidance for pedestrians or cyclists, while others can show the available spaces and the charges at the nearest multistorey car park. With the inclusion of a built-in DVB-T receiver the latest sat-nav devices can even be used to watch television. Cellphones with built-in television viewing facilities are becoming an increasingly important subject at IFA. The decision by the European Commission to support DVB-H as a uniform standard for the whole of Europe will lead to significant advances in mobile television. It is already obvious that mobile players for music, pictures and films are among the smallest but also the most attractive exhibits at IFA, and they are of particular interest to younger visitors to the fair.

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ADVERTORIAL

HOME CINEMA EPSON CONTINUES TO GROW MARKET SHARE FABULOUS NEW PROJECTORS SET TO BE RELEASED AT IFA 2008 IFA International’s “spies” have been snooping around Epson HQ in Europe, and confirm that some amazing new products are set to be officially launched at IFA 2008. In this respect, don’t be surprised if the company further grows it’s market share – along the upward trend they’ve been enjoying over the past years.

WORLD LEADER Epson has held the highest share in the global projector market since 2001 and in the EMEA area (Europe, Middle-East and Africa) since 2003. In the Home Cinema Projection market, Epson dominates the market with 27% market share in Q2, CY08 (source “Futuresource Consulting 2008 EMEA”).

2008 – A GREAT VINTAGE! 2008 is a great year for Epson, with the launch of 20 new products, one third of them dedicated to Home Cinema!

EPSON’S CORE TECHNOLOGY – 3LCD – “THE POWER OF 3” ASTONISHING, TRUE-TO-LIFE COLOURS Capable of displaying up to 68.7 billion true-to-life colours with 12 bit processing, projectors based on 3LCD technology deliver rich, vibrant colours and true clarity, creating an astonishing level of realism with every viewing. Each primary colour in a 3LCD projector has its own dedicated chip. This 3-chip design delivers constant colour, which allows higher colour luminance.

WHY 3-CHIP VS. 1-CHIP? NO “RAINBOW EFFECT” The rainbow effect that may be seen only on 1-chip sequential colour projection systems is the result of a rotating colour wheel that spins at a rapid speed and displays colours sequentially. Viewers who perceive this blurring or separating of colours may find it annoying and distracting. Projectors powered by 3LCD technology have 3-chips and a solid-state optical design so there is no colour breakup or rainbow effect.

INCREDIBLE DETAIL Smooth, seamless colour combined with an unparalleled gray-scale range delivers incredible detail to every image displayed by a 3LCD projector. Gray-scale is the shades of gray (from black to white) required for greater image depth and detail; it allows greater variation in shadows and brings superior accuracy to colour, creating a jaw-dropping, true-to-life visual experience.

HIGHER BRIGHTNESS 3LCD technology delivers sharper and brighter images with superior gray-scale detail. 3LCD projection efficiently uses light to project to the screen with no colour disruption.

On the other hand, 1-chip sequential colour projectors use a rotating colour wheel that spins at a rapid speed and displays colours sequentially. For some users this results in images displaying colour break-up or “rainbow effect” which can be annoying and distract from the viewing experience.

Hall 21 / Stand 103

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IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

PRODUCT TRENDS

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TREND TO WHITE UNDERLINED IN NEW OFFERING FROM FSC

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One of the main reasons top trade professionals attend IFA is to learn about new design trends. IFA International spoke to Melanie Wolf, press officer for Fujitsu Siemens computers about the trends with Fujitsu Siemens… one of the “leading lights” in the European PC sector.

When we talk about the design we not only need to talk about the outside, but also the inside, what we call the core and shell concept; The core refers to the technology inside, where the interface connects people to the technology. And then we have the shell, which is more or less the outside: the look and feel.

I think white in general will be a trend because we did a survey before we entered the market and this was not so much about the colour, but many people mentioned that white is a trend. Going back to our concept, it is not necessary that all of our shells will be in white. We are starting with white but there may be other colours as well. In the business region, we are using the same dialogue but the colours are different.

Yesterday, I saw there was a brand of fridges with the colour white and

It’s more of the concepts, design, usability, these are all points that are taken into account of a new design. Last year, we saw the big launch of your home server concept. How is that going, how are people finding the idea of having a home server, is it becoming more commonplace?

seeing the first steps as people’s lives are getting more digital. More and more people need to store their personal data, (photos, videos, movies, and important financial data), so they need a secure place at home to for this, and we see a very good platform for our home server as regular backup.

I think that people still need to be educated, but we are

Hall 13 / Stand 101

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HD MULTIMEDIA AND NEW MOBILE DEVICES FROM MEDION

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IFA is a very good platform for us, because we are starting with our consumer products, meaning we will show our latest design, products, and portfolio of laptops, desktops, and home servers. “Connected life” is part of this, as well as “Mobile life”.

I see, looking at your computers here that the design is very different.

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We have just launched our new “design language”, which means all of our products will have the same design elements from notebooks to displays and even to our service.

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BLU-RAY MEDIA CENTER, INNOVATIVE NEW LAPTOP AND “NETBOOK” AT HEART OF OFFERING IFA International met with Yvonne Metje from Medion to get a preview glimpse of new items to be released at IFA… we asked her about the new Entertainment Center PC to be launched in Berlin… One of the advantages of this new Entertainment Centre is that it’s from Medion’s design line so it has a very stylish appearance and can be easily integrated in your living room.

accessible via your TV. We will be showing it for the first time with integrated Blu-ray player, which is the new focus and it has an HDMI output to use with your Full-HD TV.

It also replaces your satellite receiver and your Blu-ray player, meaning you don’t need to buy them separately. Besides that, it’s still like your standard PC.

Does it record in HD?

There is a wireless keyboard meaning Internet is

Yes there is a standard HD disk integrated, with up to one terabyte capacity. So you can store thousands of movies and photos in it and of course, hours of recorded TV.

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

What else is new with Medion? You have a new laptop, which is very cutting edge. Well we’ve got a new laptop, but it’s really a “netbook”. It’s a new category of “second” notebooks that are for people who already have a notebook and need a simpler and lighter second notebook for business travel. It’s a 10-inch notebook, which is small, but still has the standard keyboard and has all the

standard applications for office or for living room use. Tell me about the bigger laptop with the new processor… It will be one of the first notebooks with the Intel Centrino 2 platform and we are quite proud to be one of the first with this in the market. It is a slim form factor and it can only be this slim because it has an energy-saving processor inside. It also has a real highend graphics card inside and

a premium sound system… and of course, all the other notebook standards, such as WLAN and integrated webcam. Where are your products being distributed at the moment? Well these are not in the European market yet, but they will be distributed first in Germany, then in other Western European countries, starting with the UK, France, Italy and Spain. Hall 10.2 / Stand 101

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PRODUCT TRENDS

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MUCH UNDER EMBARGO, BUT EXPECT BIG SURPRISES FROM TV GIANT

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With IFA just around the corner, we spoke to the company’s Head of European PR (also head of media at IFA), Peter Weber, to ask what will be new at the show for the Japanese brand… be shown in Berlin. It is a completely new approach and this will be a taste of the future. It will be a surprise for everybody. Furthermore we will be showing our digital cameras and we will also have innovation in the field of Blu-ray Disc. So there is a lot happening at the Panasonic booth. Peter Weber with IFA International Associate Editor Jooree Cho

We will have a new booth this year, which will be stunning so you are all invited to see it in Hall 5.2. We cannot talk about

our company secrets, but we will have some interesting new technologies. Some we have introduced in Las Vegas will

At Las Vegas we saw the “life wall”. Is that evolving? This is a kind of vision for the future as well. We have one, which is active in Tokyo at the Panasonic centre, but

this is still an engineer’s and marketer’s dream. What about OLED? OLED is definitely on the roadmap for Panasonic. We are continually developing it. We are manufacturing OLED in smaller screen sizes in a joint venture with Toshiba… Millions of OLED screens are produced… but they are not for TV yet. The 150’ plasma will be at IFA? Yes you will see it at IFA, but it will be a prototype. There are only 4 existing units that

our new factory will soon be able to mass-produce. So we can expect it market ready in 2nd half of 2009. In your other lines, what will be new? We will introduce new High Definition camcorders and a complete new lineup of digital cameras. This is important for us because the life-cycle is quite short and since we are a technology driven company, we have to bring in new technologies every 6 months to stay ahead of the competition. Hall 5.2 / 101 ad Pod

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GERMAN TV LEGEND INNOVATES AT IFA 2008

Elegant design and expanded connectivity are at the heart of Loewe’s offering at IFA 2008. IFA International asked Loewe’s Dr. Roland Raithel to tell us about the spectacular new “Art Range”. The Art Range is a new slim-line TV set with every kind of electronics you need… like an integrated hard disk recorder and builtin digital and analogue receivers. It’s the perfect combination of slimness and high functionality. The player is built-in, which makes for a very “integral” unit, rather than most units which have a stand with a shelf and wires, but this is very clean. Yes, a very clean stand. We can integrate the Blu-ray player and recorder in the stand and it’s the perfect design. You can have it as a 24

table stand or a floor stand like this one. It comes in different sizes and as since Loewe is so popular with hotels, especially in Germany, it should be popular as well. Well yes, we are popular in luxury hotels and we want to increase this market, especially in the Middle East. And we will bring to the market a new smaller sized TV in the “Connect” line. The Loewe Connect is a TV that fits perfectly with the home entertainment network. So it will be able to connect to the PC, notebook, iPod, iPhone, and you can control it with the

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TV remote control. And now we are introducing the 22’ and 26’ set with this equipment, and it will be the perfect TV for the hotel network. The thing that I think is fantastic here is the media center. This is quite a revolutionary product you are bringing into the market. With the Connect line, we started the theme “connectivity” in the home network. This year at IFA, we will present the Media Center as the perfect center for all the different medias. You can put the digital CDs or DVDs in it. You have two USB slots,

docking stations for iPod or iPhone, and you can connect it wirelessly or by a power line with a home network. So any TV will work with this home entertainment centre?

can spread audio signals in different rooms of the home. You can use it for different music in different rooms. And with the Loewe Connect TV, you can build up a video network and that is what is unique.

Yes. You have the multi room solution with it or you

Hall 6.2 / Stand 201

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NEW “BRILLIANT PEARL” COLOUR DESIGN FOR AUREA TVS

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PRODUCT TRENDS

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SECOND-GENERATION AUREA LCD RANGE LAUNCHED BY PHILIPS AT IFA 2008

• The latest version of the Philips Perfect Pixel HD Engine • 100Hz Clear LCD with 2ms performance (previously 3ms refresh rate) • 2,250 trillion colours processing 17bit RGB (previously 4 trillion colours) • Contrast ratio 30000:1 (upgraded from 8000:1) • Perfect Natural Motion (replacing HD Natural motion) load Po w

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• Ambilight Spectra technology has been improved for a smoother surrounding light • Integrated digital TV tuner (DVB-T/C MPEG-4) • DLNA PC network link allows browsing of content from a PC or a home network • 4HDMI inputs (replacing 3 HDMI inputs) • Reduction in standby power consumption from 0.8W to 0.15W • The 42” Aurea can now be paired with the new, white Ambisound Soundbar. The single unit home theater system produces a powerfully, immersive 5.1 sound performance.

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two screen sizes – 37” and 42” and featuring the latest version of Philips’ Active Frame technology – the outer frame surrounding the TV screen, which perfectly emulates the colours on the TV screen with an ever-

Other key product improvements within the 2008 Aurea LCD TV range include:

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Aesthetic and technical improvements are at the heart of the latest generation of Aurea TV, launched for the media at IFA Preview events in Munich and Hamburg. The new Aurea range consists of

“Philips has implemented various improvements based on extensive consumer feedback and recommendations received since launching the first Aurea LCD TV in 2007. The new Aurea range has unrivalled levels of functionality, a stunning design with a full-glass front, and offers consumers a unique entertainment

experience in their living room,” said Robert Smits, Executive Vice President Television, Philips Consumer Lifestyle.

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changing glow of light and soft halo of colour. The improved 2008 Active Frame features a new “brilliant pearl” colour, made from high quality glass with anti-reflective coatings creating what the company terms “an even more vibrant and immersive halo effect.”

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TOSHIBA’S NEW TV RANGE GOES ONE STEP FURTHER ON PREVIOUS TREND SASCHA LANGE – HEAD OF MARKETING FOR CONSUMER VISUAL PRODUCTS – TOSHIBA shop. Toshiba’s head of marketing for Consumer Visual Products, Sascha Lange, has told IFA International that in addition to running at 100 Hz in Full HD, the TVs have a new feature that gets around the problem of Standard Definition programmes on an HD set… “We developed a new picture service called Resolution Plus, which uses a very complicated algorithm to reproduce a near HD picture out of the SD picture.” The Regza ZF series with the Picture Frame 2 design was introduced last year, highlighting a very thin bezel meaning more screen for the same space. This year the company has also reduced the depth of the TV, meaning it requires even less space. 26

Towards HD from SD It’s a fact that at time of writing there are still very few HD channels on air in Europe, meaning people that buy HD TV’s often feel deceived about the image quality, having seen something different in the

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hopefully they are right. It’s not only in CE products, but

also the automobile industry is doing the same thing.” Hall 21 / Stand 101

Styling – Following the Angular Trend While the bezel of the TV is very thin, the design is also very angular. According to Mr Lange, “This is something that our designers considered a global trend. So

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

PRODUCT TRENDS

MAKING YOUR LIFESTYLE DESIGN BECOME A REALITY MORE THAN JUST THE TV… THINK ABOUT WALL MOUNTING OR SPECIALIST A/V FURNITURE

Until recently it was hard to choose a wall mount or the right kind of furniture for LCD or Plasma TV. With European HQ in the Netherlands, worldwide giant Sanus Systems have brought their expertise to the fore when it comes to choosing the right solution for your new TV. Thanks to highly explicative in-store displays and intensive reseller education provided by Sanus, not to mention the online “MountFinder”, buyers feel much more comfortable in their choice. This is important, as Sanus are constantly innovating and have a very wide product range. New at IFA ! Sanus is introducing many exciting new products at IFA, underlining why they are the world’s leading AV mount manufacturer… such as vertical foundations and clever new mounting technologies. But perhaps the most exciting thing is the addition of motorised products. I’ve Got the Power! You can now “power up” your TV mount, thanks to 2 fabulous new motorised products being launched onto the European market by Sanus: the LMT15 and the MMS18. This new units, part of the “Vision Mount” series, mean you can lay-out your living room in all kinds of new ways, re-orienting

the TV at the touch of a button. When the TV is switched off, it automatically retracts against the wall. When switched back on, the mount automatically takes it back to its last memorised position! Imagine the decoration possibilities! LMT15: This motorised mount is able to support flat screens from 37 to 60

inches. It inclines up and down and sends TV flush to wall when off. It comes in an elegant black design. MMS18: The MMS18 goes one step further, not only inclining TV up and down but also in any angle from side to side, thanks to “Virtual Axis” technology. Suitable for TVs or monitors from 26 to 46 inches. Hall 25 / Stand 14

TRENDS IN MOUNTING SOLUTIONS

VOGEL’S CELEBRATES 35 YEARS IN BUSINESS WITH LAUNCH OF NEW MOTORISED PRODUCTS AT IFA 2008 A veritable family garage start-up in the early 70’s, Vogel’s began as a manufacturer of speaker brackets… the first in the world. They then came up with the idea of hanging TV’s on the wall (yes back in the ‘70’s), which at the time was revolutionary. Since LCD and Plasma have become commonplace, business has of course boomed, but what are the trends today? We asked Gerdi Vogels, currently at the helm, to give us the “heads up” for IFA 2008. This year it’s all about EMO for us. EMO are electronics products, such as electric wall mounts, electrical swivels and that will be the main focus this year. Of course, they will be next to other products which we will show in our programme. As you can imagine, in 35 years we have a lot of heritage so we will focus on that as well during IFA. What trends are you seeing? Are you seeing more people now wanting to mount their TVs on the walls? Yes more people are mounting their TVs, in fact the flat screen itself is used in more locations in people’s houses and of course business applications. They are now mounted in more different

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

areas, where mounting on a ceiling or wall is sometimes a more logical solution. If it is not placed in the living room where is it placed in the cabinet or on the table where the traditional CRT was placed. Now the LCD is going into the kitchen, the bedroom, the study, or other places where often it is more convenient to hang it. What should people keep in mind concerning mounting solutions? You need to take into consideration the sitting area, whether it is in a U shape or a L shape, etc., as it may be much easier to watch the flat screen in front of you in a straight line rather than a strange angle. If you have a Ushaped or L-shaped sitting area, a flexible wall mount

is the best option. If you want a luxury solution, you should choose an electrical mount. What about safety? People are very concerned about just how safe a mounting bracket is… they certainly don’t want it to break or fall down.

check them ourselves. So we have a laboratory where we test the products with different uses and maximum load capacity, so customers can be totally assured about the safety aspect. Hall 25 / Stand 118

Safety is a very important topic, and hanging and trusting your flat screen is important. You have to trust the mount itself. Of course, flat screens are a high value item and you don’t want to see them drop on the floor. We have high standards of internal testing here and also the mounts are TUV approved, a German safety testing association. We are also in contact with TUV to keep the standard high. We

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THE GREEN PAGE

DISPLAY INDUSTRY FOCUSES ON GREEN INITIATIVES Industry Leaders Work Towards Lower-Power, More Environmentally Friendly Display Technology It’s reassuring to know that many companies “upstream” in the Flat Panel Display industry supply chain have made significant strides to manufacture more environmentally friendly display technologies and components and, ultimately, greener consumer electronics devices. The US-based Society for Information Display (SID) recently showcased the latest “green” technologies that will enable greener, lowerpower displays, with less waste. Here are just a few: LCD TV ASSOCIATION’S GREEN LOGO PROGRAM The LCD TV Association, a global, not-for-profit marketing trade association formed to help the entire LCD supply chain, retail channel and consumers, recently launched its GreenTV logo program to help focus LCD TV manufacturers and brands on reducing the power consumption of LCD TVs and raising consumer awareness. The first step in the LCD TV Association’s GreenTV Program is to work with major TV vendors to implement and promote ambient light sensors, which will automatically lower the set brightness in a dark room by decreasing power to the backlight - thus saving energy and actually reducing potential eyestrain as well. This can reduce power consumption by at least 30%. Participants in the program will be awarded with the right to use the association’s unique GreenTV logo on

products, packaging and advertising material. www.lctvassociation.org 3M VIKUITI 3M’s Vikuiti optical films lowered their LCD energy consumption by 30 percent or more. At SID, the company showcased a 60-watt, 32inch LCD TV and a Lenovo 19-inch-wide, 20-watt monitor that uses only two CCFL bulbs. Each is optimised with Vikuiti brightness enhancement films. An unoptimised monitor was shown next to the 20-watt version so visitors could see the difference. It requires four CCFL bulbs and 30 watts to deliver the same brightness. By recycling and reflecting light that would otherwise be wasted, Vikuiti optical films reduce the energy required to deliver a bright screen. www.3M.com/Vikuiti AU OPTRONICS CORP AUO’s latest 46-inch ECOFriendly LCD TV panel enables savings of up to 50% in power consumption. Taking global warming seriously, AUO has developed its latest eco-friendly LCD TV technology with energysaving and environmental protection features by optimising the CCFL backlight unit design. The practice of environmentfriendly product design is also one of AUO’s Green Solution missions. The latest 46-inch LCD TV panel is able to reduce power consumption by up to 50% and yet retain 500 nits brightness and 5000:1 ultra-static high contrast ratio, providing even better image quality

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

performance than traditional LCD TV panels. If every household watched television for six hours per day, the electric power consumption would save 263 kilowatt hours per household per year, and save more than 168 kilograms of CO2 from being emitted into the air (1). www.auo.com (1) The data is based upon 2006 Taiwan CO2 Emission Factor for Electricity.

CI Lumen Industries

CI Lumen Industries offers a proprietary selection of LED Backlit LCD displays. These exhibit many “green” advantages over those with traditional CCFL backlighting. In addition to having instant turn-on, longer life, and night vision viewing compatibility, other features of LED backlighting support the growing environmental conservation movement. These include: lower power consumed for equivalent display brightness; far lower generation of electromagnetic interference due to the elimination of the need for high voltage and the inverter used for its generation; a wider range of operating temperature without the need for heaters or cooling; and increased ruggedness with lower weight and a smaller footprint. Military and some industrial display users already require LED backlighting technology to achieve their end application goals. Many others will gain acceptance as environmental awareness and its supporting legislation proliferate. www.ci-lumen.com

CORNING Corning places a priority on finding ways to improve the face of consumer electronics without detracting from the environment. The company is proactive in seeking ecofriendly solutions, such as its award-winning EAGLE XG™ glass substrates, the industry’s first to contain no added heavy metals or halides. This year, Corning is also introducing a “greener” version of its Gorilla™ Glass, a strong protective cover for displays that offers high impact and scratch resistance. With these innovative glass compositions, Corning is making the world’s best consumer electronics more environmentally friendly. www.corning.com DOLBY HDR TECHNOLOGIES Environmentally friendly LEDs, an alternative to cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) backlights, are already used in many small laptop LCD screens. Their rapid adoption in general lighting, automotive headlights, and other markets is driving LED costs down, and their use in LCD televisions is increasing. By delivering localized dimming to LED-based LCD televisions, Dolby’s HDR technologies provide significant power savings compared to CCFL-based backlight televisions. By dimming only certain parts of the screen, Dolby’s HDR technologies distribute the energy needed to keep the LEDs on only when they actually need to be used. In fact, Dolby has seen about a 30 percent reduction in energy consumed when

implementing LED local dimming technology in LCD TVs when compared with CCFL-based products at equivalent brightness levels. In addition to the environmental benefits of LEDs, this alternative to traditional backlights offers a more striking visual appearance. Dolby’s local dimming technologies produce true blacks, brilliant whites, and the entire range in between. Images that in real life convey reflected lights, such as sun glare reflecting off of water, do so with local dimming just as they would when the eye perceives them in nature. This is something very difficult to achieve with conventional CCFL-based LCD screens. www.dolby.com QUALCOMM INC. Qualcomm’s mirasol™ displays save power and the planet by mimicking nature. Products with these displays are helping the earth by extending the life of batteries, allowing more time between charges and, in turn, decreasing the number of batteries required during one’s lifetime. In addition to being low-power, mirasol displays create color by mimicking the natural process that creates colors in butterfly’s wings. Ranked # 3 on last week’s Computerworld "Green IT" List, Qualcomm has found an innovative way to help extend the life of electronic devices and decrease the battery waste to our planet. www.mirasoldisplays.com www.sid2008.org

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HOME APPLIANCES @ IFA

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With Home Appliances on show for the first time at IFA this year, IFA International were pleased to accept an invitation to meet senior Miele management during a visit to their headquarters in Germany, where we were given a personal guided tour of the company’s museum, showroom and washing machine production plant. The Gütersloh factory has been the group HQ since 1907. Numerous Miele factories are dotted across Europe, with the most recent plant opening in the Czech Republic in 2004. Virtually everything is made in-situ… The steel is smelted and moulded at the facility, the parts are shaped with a 1,000 tonne press, and even the highly complex circuit boards are assembled at Gütersloh.

Education of channel partners and retailers is an important aspect of the complex, with an extensive museum and showroom. When asked why Miele is participating so actively in IFA 2008, the company’s German General Manager, Christian Gerwens, was explicit: “Firstly it has to do with distribution. Most of the specialist dealers sell CE and white goods, as there is a convergence of thought

patterns when it comes to electrical and electronic equipment in the home. Did you know that besides the TV, the fridge is the most commonly used home appliance? One exhibition for both industries thus reduces complexity.

Secondly, Europe holds 36% of the white goods market, so the best location for such a show is here and we believe Berlin is ideal for this.” According to Mr Gerwens, the Miele stand at IFA will be divided into two clearly

defined zones: one for the dealers and another for the public, as opposed to having a “closed shop” exhibition only for dealers. Hall 2.1 / Stand 101

“It all started with Butter Machines!”… Miele’s Karin Padinger, Jörg Huckenbeck and Julia Klenner welcome IFA Editor in Chief Richard Barnes to Miele Museum

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IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

HOME APPLIANCES @ IFA

KOREAN MANUFACTURER WORKING ON RELIABILITY AND TRADE SUPPORT TO GAIN FOOTING IN EUROPE LGe USES PRESENCE AT IFA IN AN ATTEMPT TO GAIN SHARE IN TOUGH EU MARKET PETER KÖRSGEN – DIRECTOR OF HOME APPLIANCES The Korean company LGe continues to make inroads in the white goods sector in Europe. While having a major share of the air conditioning market, reinforced recently thanks to a distribution agreement with Siemens, the Home Appliance section is still “knocking at the door” of the European majors. We asked Peter Körsgen, Director of Home Appliances for LGe Germany to tell us about the company’s presence at IFA. We are going to show the new generation of products, such as steam washing machines with advanced technologies. We will show new generations of refrigerators with A+ technology. One refrigerator is a new design trial… a white one with a premium white surface, kind of like piano white paint. We have a very new range of refrigerators with a bottom freezer or combi freezer. In the freezer part, there is an ice bar where you can access the prepared ice very easily. The steam washers will revolutionise the way people wash their clothes.

What would you say is the medium term goal of LGe in the white goods sector?

These came out last year so steam washers are not really new, but we have improved on the technology and capacity. These products now have load capacities of 8 and 9 kilos, which is a record in this category. In the 9 kg version we have kept the standard outside measures so that means people can install these machines in a standard space. Are the channels continuing to converge? Some parts yes, because of the chains and the so-called superstores. We have distributors such as Mediamarkt. Of course in

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

I think realistic goal is to be a reliable partner for the trades. Not number one, but a reliable partner with a good quality product and the highest customer satisfaction.

the smaller stores you have more traditional products there. But in the consumer electronics area, you don’t have something such as the kitchen channel or the furniture channel where you can find those products.

Concerning the onset of LGe in the market against the traditional brands, how do you situate LGe compared to those big brands? Outside of Germany, we have proven already that LGe has not only high potential

but also a high achievement ratio concerning the market share. So the customer generally accepts LGe very well. In Germany especially, because of the situation of the very strong traditional brands, it is a bit harder. Also here, we are convinced we will get some reasonable market share in the future. Concerning the traditional brands, they have a very close connection to the trade and to the service infrastructure. They have had more experience. So there is quite some way to go and we are aware of this. Hall 1.1 / Stand 103

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TRADE NEWS

IFA - THE PLACE TO SIGN DEALS! STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS WITH TOP TRADE ORGANISATIONS REINFORCED IN 2008 meet the needs of their customers as well as giving them insights into sales activities in different European countries. The buying groups are also closely involved in the planning of the International Trade Visitors’ Centre and the various discussion forums at IFA. The services provided by the cooperatives and IFA for visiting dealers are rounded off by a number of special packages for trade visitors. from Germany and from around the world.

The leading international buying groups, ElectronicPartner, Euronics International, expert International and telering, will be continuing their strategic partnerships at IFA 2008. In this way the world’s leading CE trade show will continue to focus on serving the interests of the dealers who belong to these cooperative

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groups. These strategic partnerships are intended to provide dealers from many countries with a single location which will put them in touch with the entire sector on an international scale. This means that specialist dealers can obtain highly qualified, in-depth information about the branch, to enable them to

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The inclusion of the IFA Home Appliances section has widened the scope of this trade show, opening up new commercial opportunities for dealers because, in its new form, IFA offers all the different product sectors covered by today’s dealers. Partnership with the buying groups gives added weight to the IFA’s claim to serve as the joint, professional platform for the trade, as an exhibition, convention and sales opportunity. “For the gfu as the organiser of IFA this intensified

collaboration with international dealers’ cooperatives is one of the cornerstones of the whole IFA concept. Together with these partners we are continuing to develop IFA as the most important event for the whole industry, and in this way we are ensuring the success of all those involved,” according to Dr. Rainer Hecker, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the CE and communication electronics association Gesellschaft für Unterhaltungs - und Kommunikationselektronik (gfu), which organises the IFA. And he added: “The dealers are the real VIPs at IFA”. “As the world’s leading consumer electronics trade show and the most important place for orders for the entire CE sector, IFA is the annual highlight for the whole industry. It is rated very highly by dealers, which is why it attracts them in such large numbers. The successful conclusion of agreements with the main international buying groups gives added emphasis to claims that IFA is the world’s leading event for the industry. They enhance the

profile of the IFA perfectly”, added Dr. Christian Göke, COO of Messe Berlin.

IFA International is a CLEVERDIS Publication • 65 avenue Jules Cantini - Tour Méditerranée - 13298 Marseille • France • Tel: + 33 4 42 77 46 00 • Fax: + 33 4 42 77 46 01 • SARL capitalised at €128,250 - VAT FR 95413604471 • RCS Marseille 413 604 471 • E-mail : [email protected] • www.cleverdis.com During IFA : Press Center – Hall 6.3 • Tel: +49 (0)30 3038 81136 • Fax: +49 (0)30 3038 81146 • E-mail : [email protected] • www.ifa-international.org • Publisher: Gérard Lefebvre • Publishing Director: Jean-Guy Bienfait • Project Manager: Bettina Badon • Editor-in-Chief: Richard Barnes • Associate Editor: Jooree Cho • Editorial team: Bruce Cooper, Marc Dezzani, Gary Smith, Jo Stephens • Photos: Didier Baverel • Videos: Sacha Le Corroler • Design & Page Setting: Serge Aznar, Hélène Beunat, Valentina Russo To contact them : first name.last [email protected] • Cover : © Photos Messe Berlin GmbH • Printing: Möller Druck und Verlag GmbH (Berlin, Germany) • With the participation of: Ugo Massacrier, Jean-François Pieri, Raphaël Pinot, Masha Polshinskaya, Mareike Vitt © CLEVERDIS 2008 - Registration of Copyright August 2008 - ISSN pending Information presented in this publication is purely indicative in order to illustrate subjects contained therein. No guarantee can be given as to the accuracy of data or content at time of printing and thus the latter should not be used for professional or commercial ends. While all efforts have been made as to accuracy and pertinence of content and data contained in this publication, CLEVERDIS may in no case be held responsible for the consequences, whatever their nature may be, that may result from the interpretation of this data or content, or any eventual errors therein. Any reproduction of the content of this publication, even partial, by any means whatsoever, is strictly prohibited without the prior autorisation of the publisher. Any copy, whether by photography, photography film, magnetic tape, disc or other means constitutes a forgery, liable to punishment under French law according to the legislation of 11th March 1957 covering copyright. All brands cited in this publication are registered trade marks and/or belong to companies which are their respective proprietors. The publishers and editorial staff decline all responsibility as to opinions formulated in this publication by those interviewed or cited therein. Their opinions are entirely their own, and are included with the understanding that they contain, to our knowledge, no malicious intent. The inclusion of all texts, photographs and other documents supplied by those included in the encyclopaedia imply the acceptance by their authors of their free publication therein. Documents and photographs will not be returned. It should be understood that this publication contains forwardlooking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include assumptions relating to the timing of the recorded date. If any of these risks or uncertainties materialises or any of these assumptions proves incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the expectations outlined in these statements. Cleverdis assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements during the period of publication. Photo Credits and Copyright: All Rights Reserved.

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

TRADE NEWS

SHOWSTOPPERS COMES TO IFA! One of the biggest happenings during the major CE trade shows in the US is a huge press event called Showstoppers. Great news for IFA is that Showstoppers will be present at IFA 2008 this year. We asked organiser Steve Leon to tell us more about this event.

At Showstoppers, leading companies are presenting their innovations, exclusively for the press. There will be a series of product introductions and for journalists it’s a very efficient way to cover the show. In 2008, for the first time, we are taking the US model to IFA. It’s also very important to underline that Showstoppers is directly linked with the show and is not an outside organisation. Showstoppers @ IFA will be the official press reception

of the show. It will occur on Wednesday 27th August at 6 pm. We had a US press preview event in New York in June and launched several others initiatives with the goal of bringing more US press to IFA and helping them learn what IFA is. But we also aim to bring press from Asia and Europe to meet the participating companies. I know at US shows, Showstoppers in massive. What are some of the figures?

Our January Las Vegas event is the biggest one that we do. One night we had 132 companies participating and at least 15,000 press members. Most of our events are smaller as they comprise of 200-300 press and 20-40 companies exhibiting at shows such as CTIA and Digital Life in New York. The Las Vegas event is gargantuan and IFA operates on that same scale. And while we don’t except anything big for the first year, we expect it to grow over time. Showstoppers is a unique opportunity for companies to communicate,

as the event is focused only on press. And it makes it a very effective way to introduce new products and talk to journalists one by one, away from the distractions of the show.

FOR MORE INFO, CONTACT:

Dave Leon Partner

And for the press, it’s all of these companies in one place at one time all exhibiting their new products, making it very effective use of time and space. One can walk out at the end of this event full of information and tips on what will be important at IFA this year.

[email protected]

Tel: +1 845 638 3527

showstoppers.com/ifa

“Into Tomorrow” to broadcast from ShowStoppers @ IFA The radio network program that covers the latest in consumer electronics and technology will broadcast from ShowStoppers @ IFA. Broadcasting for over 13 years on the Advanced Radio Network and hosted by Dave Graveline, Into Tomorrow is a three-hour program airing every weekend on over 100 stations across the US and Canada and on XM and Sirius Satellite Radio. The show is also beamed by satellite to the Armed Forces Radio Network and to over 140 countries. Into Tomorrow also broadcasts 60-second daily features, streams live audio and video from its web site, www.graveline.com, and podcasts show archives.

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

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GOING OUT

Where to go

Berlin

in We know what it’s like! You’re arriving in a town you either don’t know well or don’t know at all... one of the most legendary and amazing cities in Europe... you don’t have a lot of time and you want to optimise what little time you have going out… Get it right the first time! Indeed Berlin has a lot of fantastic spots to go out, but like every big city, there are some dives. We of course recommend the official Berlin Tourist Office, but we also hope that the following pages as well as our interactive blog www.trendset.biz will be a real boon as well. Enjoy, and give us YOUR impressions!!! See you in Berlin!

INTERNATIONAL HOTELS IN BERLIN

Royal living at the legendary Adlon Kempinski This 101 year old five star hotel will impress you with its expertise in hospitality. The friendly staff are especially committed to making all your small and big wishes come true. There is no better place

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

to treat yourself and relax in an exclusive atmosphere. Lead the life of a king!

RESTAURANTS IN BERLIN

to mix you one of his splendid drinks. Try his IFA cocktail 2008 or watch his tricks while listening to piano music. You will find it very difficult to return home after your royal life at the Adlon.

Great for a "tête à tête" or the start to a party night - Restaurant Guy

Unter den Linden 77 10117 Berlin, Germany Telephone +49 (0) 30 2261 0

On a visit to Berlin, everyone will need to see one of Berlin's most beautiful places, the

Exquisite, exclusive, luxurious… there are no better words to describe this hotel, situated at Pariser Platz. From your room you can see the Brandenburger Tor and the Unter den Linden Boulevard. Here at the Adlon, you will definitely get what you expect from a five star hotel. Maybe it is the warm colours and the exquisite designs that make you feel so comfortable… or just the fact that everything here is of the highest standards. Above all there is no need to go out and look for a nice restaurant. The Michelin star Lorenz restaurant and the Quarré restaurant at the hotel offer you a brilliant menu. Above all, ask for Franz Höckner, the head barman at the Lobby bar

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y a l p s i D t r A www.artdisplay.fr

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IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

GOING OUT Gendarmenmarkt. The German and the French-style Dome looks impressive at this bright place. All around the square, you will find marvellous restaurants. One of them is called the Guy. This excellent restaurant is especially known by Berlin gourmets for their great menu and expertise in wine.

Bötzowstraße 31 10407 Berlin, Tel.: 030 - 25562158

Restaurant Guy am Gendarmenmarkt

If you are looking for a chic and exclusive nightspot, then the Bangaluu is the place to be. Located in Berlin' s hip district Mitte, the Club offers two dance floors, two restaurants and above all a rooftop terrace. As you first enter you will be both astonished and amazed by the glamorous atmosphere. Every single bit of the interior is decked-out in sleek white. The Bangaluu staff, of course completely dressed in elegant white, lavish the guests with excellent food and drinks. Even the washroom shares the extravagance of the location as it is a unisex. The Club is an exclusive meeting point, where you can be sure to see and to be seen. Reservation necessary, call +49 30 80969 3077 Entry for Party is already included in the menu! Parties: • Friday, 29.08.2008: Hed Kandi Label Night, House Music from one of the most famous house-labels worldwide. Opening 10PM - Cover 10 Euros • Saturday, 30.08.2008: 104.6 RTL Clubnacht - Music mixed, House, R’n’B, Disco-Classics. Opening 10PM - Cover 10 Euros

Whether you want to take out your better half for a romantic dinner or you are planning a business lunch, The Guy Restaurant is a recommendation for all gourmets. At the entrance, you are warmly welcomed by friendly members of the experienced waitstaff. It is then up to you to make a choice on which level to sit, since the whole restaurant is arranged in lovely terraces around a beautiful courtyard. Jägerstr. 59 – 60 10117 Berlin Tel.: 030 – 20942600

BARS IN BERLIN

The Saphire Bar - upscale but not pretentious The district Prenzlauer Berg is one of the most popular in Berlin. Here you will meet fashion addicts, artists, young and dynamic business people or just the simple "Berliner". Prenzl' berg, as we Berliners say, is the place to meet or to go out for a coffee during the day or a drink at night. Here, out of the tourist centre, you will find one of Berlin's best whisky bars. As you enter the Saphire Bar, you find yourself back in the 70’s. There are wooden walls and patrons sip their colourful drinks on stylish cream-coloured sofas. See “Where to go” blog at www.trendset.biz

NIGHTCLUBS IN BERLIN

The Definition of Decadence - Bangaluu Club

Bangaluu Club Invalidenstr. 30 10115 Berlin LAS VEGAS STYLE ENTERTAINMENT IN BERLIN Take in an impressive show experience that ranks among the most successful productions in Germany, right in the heart of Berlin. The audience is fascinated discovering their old time favourites back on stage. Flash back to the greatest hits of the Blues Brothers, Michael Jackson and Elvis, the King of Rock 'n Roll.

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008

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GOING OUT Estrel Festival Center

Elvis - The Show

The Estrel festival Centre offers a great range of star double shows throughout the year. The artists look and sound like our old-time favourites. All their performances are accompanied by dancers and an excellent live band. Seated on a table, next to 800 other guests possibly, and being served with food an drinks in a cosy and glamorous atmosphere, you will be impressed by the revival of Elvis or the comeback of ABBA. Bernhard Kurz is the producer of these outstanding live shows.

Contemporary witnesses will tell the true story of Elvis Presley. Graham Patrick is the perfect visual illusion of Elvis. Any grandmother would go crazy seeing her old idol back on stage, with the same smile and the same charm. 29th August 2008 at 8:30 pm 30th August 2008 at 8:30 pm Tickets from 19 to 45 Euros (excl. booking fee and ticket fee) - available from TicketHotline: +49/(0) 30/68316831 or www.stars-in-concert.de Estrel Berlin, Sonnenallee 225 12057 Berlin-Neukölln

The ABBA-Story "Thank you for the music” ABBA fans will be happy to know that the group is back on stage (in spirit anyway)... the show "Thank you for the

music" carries its audience back to the party atmosphere of the 70's. The four artists' voices sound astonishingly like their idols. Listening to the features of ABBA's greatest hits at the show is like you were listening to an ABBA CD at home, though in a much more sparkling atmosphere. 31st August 2008 at 7 pm 3rd September 2008 at 8:30 pm

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attracting visitors during the next Long Night of Museums. The city event is for many people as much an attraction as the cities sights. The 23rd Long night of museums will this time be run under the theme "Castles, Parks and Gardens". Museums, memorials and exhibitions will present

their collections and treasuries to inhabitants of the city and tourists alike. This is a great chance for people who are busy during the day to take in historical collections and art works after a long day at the IFA show. 30th August 2008, from 6pm to 2am

MUSEUMS AND EXHIBITIONS

Discover Berlin's Museums by Night Have you ever seen the Greek Pergamon Altar? Do you want to know more about the Babylon mystery? Then Berlin’s exciting and diverse collections will be the best opportunity for you to discover everything from ancient to modern culture. During the long night of museums on the 30 August, Berlins most interesting and most important sights and museums will open their doors until midnight.

“23rd Long Night of museums” From 6 pm until 2 in the morning, various city museums are

IFA International • Monday, 25th August 2008