CeBIT 2005

The show drew a solid 480,000 visitors, of whom a record high of 88 percent were trade professionals. This constituted an almost four-percent rise in professional attendance - strong confirmation of a well-targeted CeBIT campaign. This year's new concept, with its sharper thematic focus, also resulted in much greater traffic at the stands. While attendees visited an average of 21 stands in 2004, this year they averaged 27 stands - an increase of around 30 percent. A clear trend towards more business contacts at CeBIT was also evident in the average length of stay of individual visitors, now up to two days, and the first increase in many years.

The show's new concept, with its strong appeal to specific target groups, was right on the mark: SMEs and dealers turned out in full force, and 70 percent of all applications and solutions at CeBIT 2005 were pitched to SMEs. About two thirds of this year's trade attendees came from firms with up to 500 employees. Planet Reseller as the "specialty retailing center" also recorded growth of over ten percent. Particularly pleasing was the response to the special presentations "future parc" and "Public Sector Parc". Visits to future parc were up by more than four percentage points to around 19 percent (80,000 visitors), while the Public Sector Parc registered a total of 43,200 guests - an increase of more than three percent. The new IT Outsourcing Solutions presentation got off to a very successful start, attracting some 30,000 trade visitors in its debut year.

CeBIT's appeal to senior management continues to go up: over 54 percent of all trade visitors (2004: 50.6%) came from this target group, and an impressive 21.7 percent (2004: 14.6%) are members of executive management. There was also a significant rise in the level of decision-making authority among the show's attendees: Some 146,000 visitors this year indicated playing a major role in their company's purchasing decisions (2004: 130,800). Furthermore, around half of all companies came to this year's CeBIT with specific investment plans in mind.

The percentage of visitors from abroad rose by six percentage points - from 23 to 29 percent. The unabated trend towards greater attendance from Asian countries was particularly pleasing: Some 35,500 visitors came from the Asia/Pacific region - representing growth of 42 percent over the previous year, while the numbers from South America actually doubled - from 800 to 1,600 visitors. But the show's strong international appeal is also evident in the exhibitor figures, particularly from Asia. With 3,300 Asian firms exhibiting this year, CeBIT scored an all-time high in the rate of foreign participation. This underscores CeBIT's reputation as the most truly global of all ICT shows, both in terms of visitor turnout and exhibitor makeup.

According to BITKOM (the Berlin-based German Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media), CeBIT 2005 met the high expectations of its exhibitors in every regard. Companies welcomed the show's heightened international drawing power and were full of praise for the further increase in valuable business contacts. "Nowhere else is it so easy to make international contacts and bring government representatives, investors and suppliers together at one table", was the official BITKOM verdict at the end of the show. This influential industry association reported not only a higher percentage of trade visitors, but also better-informed visitors that pursued more specific interests. They also encountered an increased number of CEOs and managers of SMEs from both Germany and abroad.

The Asian Pacific contingent, traditionally well-represented at CeBIT, was up again this year. While 1,354 firms from the region made the trip to Hannover last year, some 1,677 companies were represented this time around - the highest number in the history of CeBIT. Once again Taiwan led the way with 777 exhibitors (2004: 700). Global market leaders like Tatung, TECO, BenQ and Acer, along with small and medium-size enterprises, were showcasing the entire spectrum of ICT. They declared themselves extremely happy with the run of the show.

CeBIT 2005 featured as many as 310 exhibitors from the People's Republic of China - nearly double the level of Chinese participation on the previous year (182 firms) - and these exhibitors had only positive things to say about their trade fair experience. They typically reported having made numerous business contacts and having used CeBIT as a "gateway to Europe". Zhao Fujun, Marketing Director of the Haier Group, said: "Our companies were able to establish countless new business contacts and make extensive sales amounting to 100 million US dollars after only four days of the show." Without exception, Chinese exhibitors praised the high credentials of their visitors, and have already expressed a desire to book more space in 2006. Satisfaction was also widespread among Korean exhibitors, who increased their contingent from 165 to 202 companies and regard CeBIT as an absolute must.

The 209 US American companies (2004: 224) were impressed with the show's highly international makeup and strong turnout by trade visitors. They were relieved to see clear signs of renewed growth in the international ICT market. "I have been exhibiting at CeBIT for 12 years," notes the owner of a small firm from the US State of Maryland, "and I now export more than 60 percent of my annual turnover, thanks entirely to our appearances at CeBIT."

European exhibitors were also in a buoyant mood at show's end, after experiencing an increase in Asian trade visitors to their stands. They are now looking forward to some substantial post-show business.

Central and Eastern European countries - strongly represented this year with a total of 292 firms - used CeBIT to make a strong showing in the context of a steadily widening European marketplace. They reported a number of promising contacts and brisk visitor turnout at their stands.

The expanded SME initiative of Deutsche Messe AG and BITKOM led to a significant increase in visitors to the SME Forum 2005. More than 3,500 attendees visited this event, featuring over 70 special lectures and talks devoted specifically to this target group. More than 60 percent of the visitors were top-level decision makers, who showed particular interest in the customer-centric themes explored at the forum. Cooperative partners at this SME Forum like EC-Net, Prozeus and BDU, recorded strong interest in the keynote themes of security, eCommerce, globalization and process optimization. Strategic partners reported increased visitor traffic from SME visitors with concrete purchasing plans. The biggest visitor target group consisted of companies in the service sector, followed by the processing industries and the retail trade, while the biggest increase in visitor groups at the SME Forum came from the skilled trades.

As the central meeting point for specialist retailers, distributors, system houses and purchasing cooperatives, "Planet Reseller" was once again a big attraction at CeBIT this year. Following a renewed expansion in the physical size of the event, it managed to draw around ten percent more visitors than in 2004. For the first time ever, several exhibitors at "Planet Reseller" displayed selected home entertainment and consumer electronics products in a special show entitled the "Digital Lifestyle Home."
Not only ICT products and solutions were in the spotlight at CeBIT, but also international networking and information-sharing. More than 300 000 visitors used the trade show primarily for educational purposes or to swap information. Along with definitive CeBIT themes like convergence, networking and security, a high-caliber conference and seminar program was a highlight at CeBIT 2005. The day before the show opened, some 110 managing directors and CEOs from exhibiting companies networked on issues facing the ICT industry at the "Technology Industry Summit at CeBIT," an event which featured 15 keynote speakers from leading international firms, plus the new EU Commissioner for IT and Media, Viviane Reding. Some 270 top-level decision makers also took the opportunity to exchange news and views about the changed business environment in the wake of an expanded European market at the "ICT World Club Lunch" on the first day of the trade show.

Some 2,050 attendees took part in a total of 23 conference events held at CeBIT 2005 - representing a significant increase compared with the previous year (1,300). A total of 188 corporate lectures also met with the interest of around 8,000 trade show visitors. Apart from German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder, a total of 32 federal ministers, minister-presidents and state ministers came to CeBIT to update themselves on the latest developments and trends in the ICT industry. A total of 30 delegations of high-ranking politicians from all five continents also made the trip from abroad.

Top themes at this year's CeBIT were Mobile Services, Digital Lifestyle, IT Security and IT Outsourcing Services. In the Telecommunications domain, the main highlights were UMTS and Voice over IP, which are now becoming increasingly attractive for private users. A big buzzword at CeBIT 2005 was convergence, i.e. the convergence between information and telecommunications technology- and consumer electronics. More and more terminal devices now offer features more commonly associated with office and entertainment products. They are also equipped with multiple interfaces, allowing them to communicate with one another through open standards. High Definition (HD) was another hot topic this year. At CeBIT the entire product spectrum, from shooting and editing to playback of high-definition video material, was on display. On the computer front, notebooks continue to gain in ascendancy over PCs. Exhibitors showcased numerous business models powered by the latest-generation technology with faster memory access, enhanced performance and minimized energy consumption.

The next CeBIT Hannover will be staged from Thursday, 9 March to Wednesday, 15 March 2006.