by Xinhua writer Zhu Sheng
BERLIN, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Companies nowadays are not able to innovate all on their own, and they have to cooperate and collaborate with strategic partners, said the organizer of IFA 2019, the world's leading trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances.
"It is very obvious that especially electronic devices nowadays consist of so many different parts, pieces and processes made by different companies from many different countries and regions. This is why we talk about 'co-innovation'," IFA director Dirk Koslowski said in an interview with Xinhua.
"A good example for this is the collaboration between Chinese and German companies, between Chinese and German mind sets, entrepreneurs and researchers. It's this kind of co-innovation that is creating better products," Koslowski noted.
According to him, through "co-innovation" partner companies will not only carve out the best quality of the products, but also the most reasonable prices, which is of course to the advantage of consumers.
The 59th IFA opened in Berlin on Friday, with the latest products and innovations from the leading global brands, and will last until Sept. 11. Last year, goods worth a total of 4.7 billion euros (5.2 billion U.S. dollars) were sold at the fair.
Approximate 1,939 global exhibitors, a year-on-year increase of 7 percent, show on the exhibition ground of around 163,900 square meters. Some 770 Chinese exhibitors, including Huawei, TCL and Haier, have also taken part, according to the organizer.
"Even if the market is challenging, this year's IFA is looking extremely promising in terms of the exhibitor number," Koslowski said, adding that Chinese exhibitor group contributes most to the increase of exhibitor number this year.
"Chinese exhibitors are playing a vital role in terms of expanding our activities and bringing our activities to a new level," Koslowski told Xinhua.
This is also the first time for the IFA to have an opening keynote from a Chinese company, which is Huawei, he added.
Koslowski believed that the IFA is also a place for "friendly competition". Since companies are standing by each other, booth next to booth, they need to showcase their most convincing stories to consumers and retailers.
"At the end, everyone is winning," Koslowski concluded.
The first version of the IFA took place in Berlin in December 1924 with 242 exhibitors presenting their newest radio engineering developments.
Since then, the IFA fair has come a long way. It attracted over 244,000 visitors and 1,814 exhibitors last year.
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