The German tech fair IFA 2022 opened to the public in Berlin on Friday, for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the fair was restricted to professional visitors, while last year it was canceled.
Until Tuesday next week, 1,100 exhibitors from 46 countries and regions will contribute to "one of the largest tech events of the year," according to the organizers gfu Consumer and Home Electronics and Messe Berlin.
"We are convinced that IFA will once again live up to its role as the world's most important platform for consumer electronics and home appliances," said gfu managing director Sara Warneke.
This year's fair is focusing on sustainability, connectivity and artificial intelligence, particularly for smart living. Exhibitors include global industry players such as Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, U.S. carmaker Tesla, South Korean tech behemoth Samsung, and German engineering and technology company Bosch.
With regards to sustainability, the trade show features its "biggest ever reseller park," which also includes a new refurbishing zone for consumer electronics. In addition, many sustainable products such as the "world's first self-charging, solar-powered headphones" by Swedish company Urbanista are to be presented at IFA 2022.
Despite planning uncertainties and ongoing travel restrictions, the fair is reclaiming "its status as a major tech show in Germany's most exciting city," a spokesperson for the German Electro and Digital Industry Association (ZVEI) told Xinhua on Friday.
Meanwhile, China is omnipresent at the Berlin tech fair. The exhibition space for Chinese home appliances giant Haier alone covers 3,700 square meters. Honor and Huawei are also present, with their latest smartphones, laptops and tech gadgets for the European market.
Haier's app hOn creates "ecosystems that can anticipate desires and offer matching solutions for simplified everyday life" using smart appliances. The company's exhibition area was designed to convey a "new vision of a smart home."
Germany's consumer electronics market grew to 9.7 billion euros (9.7 billion U.S. dollars) in 2021. Chinese imports contributed 5.4 billion euros to the German market, "but some are also being re-exported," according to industry association ZVEI. (1 euro = 1 U.S. dollar)
Produced by Xinhua Global Service
