The biggest electronics trade fair in Europe, IFA, will this year add a focus on innovation and the manufacturing process, and give more space to individual brands.
This was announced at the show's global press conference, in Lisbon, Portugal, this weekend. The conference brings together over 300 international journalists from 50 countries to give them an insight into what can be expected from the upcoming show.
IFA 2017 will take place in early September, when thousands of exhibitors are expected to take part and hundreds of thousands of visitors will walk through the doors.
The show was started in the 1920s and was originally set up to exhibit the latest in radio technology. It has since shifted focus and now showcases the latest consumer tech products and home appliances.
Hans-Joachim Kamp, chairman of GFU's consumer and home electronics board, says 2017 will be the tenth year home appliances will be at the show, with a steady increase in order volume each year, reaching over $4.7 billion in 2016. The GFU is an industry association involved with the IFA organisation.
However, Dr Christian G"oke, CEO of Messe Berlin, says: "We believe it is time to define consumer electronics in a new way. The boundaries between consumer electronics and home appliances, the digital and the physical worlds are blurring.
"Whether it is in the kitchen, the living room, or the office, the 'consumerisation' of devices is exponential - from entertainment to healthcare, automotive, mobile devices, gaming, services like the Internet of things and the smart home, to new fields like drones, virtual, augmented and mixed reality.
"Today, consumer electronics connects and shapes everything," says G"oke.
He says IFA 2017 will be structured to focus on brands and innovation, and there will also be a new dedicated larger venue for components manufacturers, called IFA Global Markets.
"This year, we can offer more space to brands than ever before, all in one place and clearly organised by category," says G"oke.
IFA Global Markets will be treated as a separate show running concurrently with the main event. It will serve as a place where manufacturers can show their design and source components for future products.
Innovation will have its own stage in the form of IFA NEXT, which will be situated near the main event. IFA NEXT will have two arenas of innovation which will host presentations and demonstrations.
Smaller start-ups that are not yet big enough to have their own space in the main show will have the chance to exhibit at IFA NEXT.
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