Nation’s top IT-electronics fair shifts focus, courts startups
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Strolling around the nation’s biggest IT-electronics show, visitors might notice the absence of some familiar brands.
Traditionally, the CEATEC trade show, which kicked off Wednesday at Makuhari Messe in the city of Chiba, has been a place for Japan’s major electronics players to show off cutting-edge technology and products, but in recent years more firms have opted to skip the event.
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While Sony Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. have been absent over the last few years, Toshiba Corp. — now mired in an accounting scandal — decided not to join this year. From other fields, NTT Docomo Inc., a regular participant for more than a decade, has abandoned the event this year while Toyota Motor Corp. has chosen not to participate for the first time in four years.
The overall number of participating firms has been shrinking. The trade show attracted 895 firms in 2007 but this year just 531 firms are attending.
Media have played up the fact that CEATEC, which stands for the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies, has been losing its presence as an IT-electronics fair compared with other major electronics shows overseas, including the IFA in Germany and the CES in the U.S.
Yet the organizer of CEATEC said that the fair has been going through changes — including attracting participants from a wide range of industries — that differentiate it from conventional electronics shows. This way, the organizer said, it can offer IT-electronics, services and solutions together.
It also said that CEATEC hoped to promote more startup firms and showcase their new and interesting products and technology.
“Whether or not to take part in CEATEC is up to the companies, but we do hope that they participate every year, and that is not happening (with major firms),” said Takashi Kikushima, general manager of CEATEC Japan Management Office. “It’s very unfortunate.”
Kikushima said some big companies may decide not to participate because their business focuses are shifting.
Indeed, Toshiba said that it was bypassing CEATEC this year, since it will focus more on business-to-business transactions.
Meanwhile, Sharp Corp. is one of the largest electronics firms participating this year.
“We think CEATEC is one of the major opportunities to promote (our brand and products) globally, as there are quite a few international visitors,” said Masahiko Nishino, head of Sharp’s brand strategy division.
The electronics giant, which is displaying its new robot phone, connected home electronics, TVs and LCD displays, was attracting many visitors.
Sharp actually heavily depends on B2B, but Nishino also stressed that home electronics sales remain important. Getting word out about the brand at an event like CEATEC is critical, he added.
Kikushima said that when CEATEC started in 2000, home electronics were the focus of the early years, so people may still have a strong image that such products are the core of the show.
But considering recent technological trends, CEATEC is no longer just a home electronics show, he said.
For instance, the era of the “Internet of things” (IoT) — where many everyday objects are likely to be connected to the Internet or other devices — is fast approaching. It is important to show off services or solutions rather than just displaying devices or parts, he said.
This approach has seen CEATEC shift its focus this year to the IoT and how such products can be used as services or solutions. For that reason, CEATEC is seeing not only hardware manufacturers or software companies participate this year, but also service industries such as travel agency KNT Co.
The participation of startups has been another focus of CEATEC, Kikushima added.
“Japan has many ventures that are doing research and development on innovative technology and products,” he said.
Beginning last year, CEATEC set up an area concentrated on startups — and that area has expanded this year.
For startups, CEATEC is apparently a good chance to promote themselves.
“People have never heard of ventures like us and have no idea on what our services are, so we want to increase our recognition (at CEATEC),” said Toshikatsu Oshima, director of Tokyo-based Movacloud Inc.
Launched in February, his firm develops a software system to run tests for smartphone apps to check for bugs.
Oshima said booths at CEATEC’s startup area were significantly cheaper compared with other fairs, which was a big help.
Hidenori Kondo, of Safie Inc., another startup in Tokyo that makes cloud-based software systems for surveillance cameras, also praised CEATEC, noting that since it was the biggest IT-electronics fair, it was an excellent chance to promote his firm and its products.
Kondo said the firm had participated in other fairs but that those were mainly for Web-based startups. CEATEC participants, however, come from a variety of fields, including hardware makers that the firm might be able to sell its systems to.
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