CeBIT battles exhibitor pull-out

CeBIT 2007

Next week's CeBIT tradeshow in Hanover will be a transitional edition in a last ditch effort to polish up the event's tarnished image, according to the show's organiser, Deutsche Messe. 

By next year, CeBIT will no longer attempt to cover the entire IT industry but will shift focus to niche markets.

"The IT industry, the main market for CeBIT, is going through an expansive change process which is bound to have an impact on the tradeshow as an international trendsetter," Ernst Raue, board member for Deutsche Messe, conceded to German news agency DPA.

CeBIT has been battling a gradual drop in attendance and exhibitors. This year, Nokia and Motorola pulled out in favour of the 3GSM show in Barcelona.

The host city of Hanover is ill-equipped to receive the huge flow of people attending the event, sending prices for the city's few hotels skyrocketing.

CeBIT has essentially fallen victim to the same problems that killed the Comdex convention in 2002.

Both events suffered from a lack of focus on the show floors as well as in the audience. This spawned a cycle of brand-name exhibitor departures, followed by corporate buyers.

As the relative number of gadget-hunting consumers increased, additional exhibitors pulled out.

As demonstrated by the Nokia and Motorola pull-outs, more focused events are having success in improving attendance. In addition to 3GSM, CeBIT is facing harsh competition from the IFA television show in Berlin. 

There is no guarantee that attempts to restructure CeBIT will be successful. The 2002 edition of Comdex was also billed as a transitional event.

The changes caused attendance to plummet by nearly 50 per cent and marketing statements promising a come back have never materialised.