Overseas Exhibition Cancellations and Postponements... Global Marketing Blocked for Electronics Industry

Infocom China and IFA 2020 Red Light

Schedule of Major Global Events Related to Electronics and IT

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The electronics industry is taking a direct hit to its global marketing strategies due to the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). As major overseas exhibitions scheduled for the first half of this year are being canceled or postponed one after another, setbacks in global expansion strategies have become inevitable.

According to the industry on the 23rd, 'infoComm China,' the world's largest commercial display exhibition scheduled to be held in Beijing, China from the 26th to 28th, has been postponed to September. The International Communications Industries Association, which organizes the event, reportedly postponed the schedule to the second half of the year as COVID-19 spread worldwide. Accordingly, 'infoComm Southeast Asia,' scheduled for May in Bangkok, Thailand, was also postponed to July.

Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, which have showcased the latest display technologies including premium TVs through infoComm, are revising their marketing plans to align with the postponed schedules.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, 'IFA 2020,' Europe's largest home appliance exhibition, is also facing cancellation risks. The 'Global Press Conference,' scheduled to be held early next month in the Republic of Cyprus as a pre-event for IFA, was abruptly canceled. IFA stated on its official website, "We are monitoring the spread of COVID-19, but the situation is constantly changing, making it difficult to reach any conclusion."

The 'American Institute of Architects Conference,' held annually in May in Las Vegas, USA, has also entered an indefinite postponement. LG Electronics introduced the 'Multi V,' a large and medium-sized building air conditioning system, at last year's event.

The schedule for 'Hannover Messe,' the world's largest industrial exhibition scheduled to be held in Germany from the 20th to 24th of next month, was finally postponed to July. Hannover Messe is an industrial technology exhibition with over 6,500 companies participating from 75 countries worldwide. LG Electronics showcased industrial autonomous driving robots and AI (artificial intelligence) inspection solutions last year.

The electronics industry is actively strengthening price reductions and non-face-to-face marketing such as online sales as global event schedules are delayed and some offline stores in major countries are closed.

Samsung Electronics is posting various promotional videos on its YouTube channel covering mobile, home appliances, IT products, and B2B product lines. LG Electronics plans to reduce prices of premium OLED (organic light-emitting diode) TVs in the North American market by up to 20% compared to last year. The shipment price of the 55-inch 4K resolution OLED TV (OLED55CX) this year is set at $1,799, about 28% lower than the previous year's similar grade ($2,499).

An industry official said, "As major global events are disrupted due to COVID-19, the proportion of price reductions, non-face-to-face, and contactless strategies in marketing and promotions is increasing."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.