Major technology firms will skip German fair

Many major Korean firms, including LG Electronics, will not participate in CeBIT, a tech fair to take place in March in Germany, as the fair shrinks due to a lack of participation by top players.
Korean companies decided that CeBIT, a trade showcase for digital IT and telecommunications solutions for home and work environments, is less important this year. The tech fair, which takes place in Hanover, Germany between March 15 and 21, used to be the largest IT event in Europe. But the number of participants has been dropping every year recently, from 7,200 in 2002 to 6,600 in 2003 and then to 6,100 last year.
This year, LG Electronics ― along with other foreign powerhouses Nokia, Motorola, Sony and Philips ― will not participate in CeBIT.
Hewlett-Packard and Canon will be participating in joint booths with other companies.
Samsung Electronics is the only major Korea-based multinational firm that is going.
Judy Pae, a spokeswoman for LG Electronics, said that CeBIT has lost its luster because the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January and the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona in February left no new products or services to be announced.
Also, another technology fair in Berlin, Germany, the International Funkaustellung, which takes place from late August to early September, is growing in scale.
Samsung Electronics spokesman Hong Kyung-seon pointed out that tech firms have a limited budget for foreign exhibition participation, which is why they have to be selective. Samsung said that it still viewed CeBIT as important because the trade show is general, whereas 3GSM focuses only on mobile services.
Smaller companies such as Reigncom, Mpio and Dongsung Media will participate in smaller individual booths.

By Wohn Dong-hee Staff Writer [wohn@joongang.co.kr]