IFA organizers reject call for spring date

Sep 3, 2007, 13:10 GMT

Berlin - Organizers of IFA rejected on Monday, the fourth day of the consumer-electronics show, calls to shift the annual Berlin event to the spring.

Rainer Hecker, chairman of the GFU, the German industry group which hosts and finances the six-day show, said, 'We'll be keeping the date as it is.'

Joachim Reinhart, head of European operations for Matsushita Electrical, which sells products under the Panasonic brand, had suggested in an news interview published Monday that the fair move to the spring.

Reinhart said a spring date would match product development cycles better.

That would put IFA into direct conflict with the annual CeBIT computer and communications trade show in Hanover.

IFA stands for the German words Internationale Funkausstellung (international radio show) and CeBIT for Centrum fuer Buero und Informationstechnik (centre for office and information technology).

Hecker said the autumn date was keyed to the peak in retail sales around the Christmas shopping season.

Noting that a record 1,212 exhibitors were attending this year, he said, 'The numbers show we are doing the right thing.'

The fair ranks with the Tokyo and Las Vegas consumer-electronic shows as a top venue to show new products.