April 01, 2004

With 2.992 foreign firms, ( 2003: 1.876 ) CeBIT once again underscored its reputation as a truly international exhibition. With 47% of the show's exhibitors having come from abroad ( 2003: 44% ), this constitutes a record high for foreign participation. Of the European nations represented, Great Britain again provided the biggest contingent with 198 firms - ahead of the Netherlands with 126 and Italy with 93 exhibitors. The European exhibitors echoed the approval shown by German firms for the high level of decision-making authority evident among the event's international attendees.

The Asian-Pacifc region managed to increase its already strong CeBIT presence this year. While in 2003 at total of 1.211 firms from these countries occupied a net display area of 31.978 sqm that year, this time it was 1.387 companies on 33.057 sqm of exhibition space. This made the Asia-Pacific contingent the biggest ever in the history of CeBIT.

Taiwan took top honors again for the region, with 709 exhibitors ( 2003: 664 ). The majority of Taiwan exhibitors presented themselves on 11 theme-oriented "Taiwan Pavilions", spread over as many halls, and a national pavilion organized by the country's offical TAITRA (Taiwan External Trade Promotion Council ). But also remarkable was the appearance of Taiwan's individual exhibitors, international giants such as Acer, BenQ, ASUS, FIC, Giga-byte, MSI, MITAC, Shuttle Tatung, Via, Chi Mei, Abatron and others, on huge, mostly two-floor stands whose plush designs, imported from Taiwan, attracted the admiration of visitors. These companies spent fortunes for their public image, and their top managements apparently knew very well what they were doing on this world's most important business event. Across the board, Taiwan companies, industrial giants and SMEs alike, reported better visitor attendance in terms of qualification and decision-making that last year and are expecting a substantial follow-up on orders for the ensuing year. Opinion polls among them already predict stronger presence at CeBIT 2005 as a direct result of their positive experience this year.

The second highest group from Asia ( last year held by Korea ) was the People's Republic of China with 189 firms ( 2003: 111 ). The main focus of Chinese was to break into the European market. "CeBIT 2004 produced twice as many business contacts for us than last year " was the assessment of Aaron Wong, Director of International Marketing of Lenovo, Peking.

The US contingent, 222 companies as opposed to the 249 of last year, reported negotiations with plenty of top notch decision makers at this year's CeBIT, meaning a real increase in new sales leads. A case in point: Tom Nielsen of the US firm NLS expressed the cost/benefit ration of CeBIT 204 this way: "A single contract signing sufficed to offset the entire cost of our participation in the show.