According to Leif Lindner, CEO of IFA Management GmbH, the rising presence of Chinese firms in the end reinforces relatively than adjustments the position of IFA. As firms from China proceed to push the boundaries of expertise and product innovation, Lindner hopes to see much more Chinese presence at IFA within the years forward.
BERLIN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) — Global shopper electronics innovation is now being more and more pushed by China, stated Leif Lindner, CEO of IFA Management GmbH in an interview with Xinhua.
“Twenty years ago, most innovation came from Japanese companies,” Lindner stated throughout IFA Berlin, one of many world’s largest commerce festivals for shopper electronics and residential home equipment. Now, nonetheless, Lindner underlined that it’s China that’s main the cost.
Lindner, who has almost 30 years of expertise within the shopper electronics business and used to work for Sony and Samsung Electronics, has additionally gained firsthand expertise of China’s shopper electronics business via his many visits to the nation.
He has visited Chinese firms together with Xiaomi, Midea, DJI and BYD, witnessing their analysis and improvement, merchandise and market methods. These experiences, he stated, have given him an in depth view of how Chinese firms have advanced past their conventional strengths in manufacturing and price competitiveness.
“Chinese companies are really impressive in terms of their involvement and capabilities,” Lindner stated.
The rising affect of those firms is seen at IFA. Around 900 of the roughly 2,000 exhibitors at this yr’s present are from China, accounting for about 38 p.c of the exhibition area. Xiaomi is making its IFA debut this yr, whereas firms together with Dreame and Haier are showcasing new merchandise and applied sciences.
The scale of the Chinese presence has prompted debate in Germany over whether or not IFA is turning into “Chinese.” However, Lindner seen this pattern otherwise because the altering mixture of exhibitors displays shifts within the world shopper electronics business relatively than a change within the commerce honest’s orientation.
“Our mission is to bring the best innovation currently available in the global market to our show,” he stated.
According to Lindner, one of many clearest benefits of Chinese firms is the velocity to show concepts into merchandise.
“The time from when an idea for a product comes up to when the product is executed and becomes available is the shortest that we are currently seeing in the worldwide economy,” he stated. “Nobody else can achieve the same pace.”
That benefit is especially evident in robotics, the place Lindner stated Chinese firms are setting the tempo, pointing to humanoid robotics companies reminiscent of Unitree and Agibot.
“What impresses me most is the robot situation, because they are bringing together what AI is capable of doing at this moment,” he stated.
A devoted dynamic robotic demonstration space was launched this yr, with robots from Chinese firms among the many primary performers. Demonstrations by Unitree and Agibot drew such massive crowds that the venue was typically pressured to shut quickly.
Beyond the spectacle, he stated, the demonstrations supplied European audiences an opportunity to see rising applied sciences up shut and acquire a way of how synthetic intelligence (AI) and robotics might change into a part of on a regular basis life within the subsequent two or three years.
The shifting innovation panorama can also be blurring the boundaries between shopper electronics, sensible houses and mobility, with firms reminiscent of Xiaomi and Dreame bringing automobiles into their broader ecosystems.
“More or less every consumer electronics manufacturer is putting a car into its ecosystem,” Lindner stated, including that electrical autos would kind a part of IFA’s rising mobility phase.
In the eyes of Lindner, the rising presence of Chinese firms in the end reinforces relatively than adjustments the position of IFA. As firms from China proceed to push the boundaries of expertise and product innovation, Lindner hopes to see much more Chinese presence at IFA within the years forward.