IFA 2020: Another COVID-19 casualty

IFA 2020 (Internationale Funkausstellung Berlin), one of the world’s biggest consumer electronics trade shows, has been cancelled owing to the distress caused by the Coronavirus Pandemic. The event was originally scheduled to happen between September 4th to 9th this year. This is not to say that the event will not happen at all because only physical gatherings are restricted so we’re likely to see an online version still happening.  

As of today, COVID-19 has affected more than 2 Million people world-wide and there are no signs of stopping it. Countries are trying their level best but the impact is getting only stronger. All the major industries including Electronics have been hit badly and this may bring an economic crisis in the near future. Major electronics events, including the MWC2020 and Google’s I/O have already been cancelled. The recent one to join the list is IFA Berlin. 

In a recent thread on Twitter, the company has confirmed the cancellation of the physical event abiding by the Berlin government’s order of banning all events of more than 5000 participants.

It further added that the organizers of this event, GFU and Messe Berlin, had already anticipated this and have already started looking for all alternative concepts that will showcase their core functions. Hans-Joachim Kamp, Chairman of GFU home electronics said that he expected this development to happen but ascertained that a clear planning and regulatory framework can lead to better plans for IFA 2020.

It must be noted that IFA did not give an exact date but said that it will update the details of their alternative concepts in the near future after discussing with partners GFU, Messe Berlin and exhibitors of the event. Given the kind of ferocity the pandemic is showing right now, it doesn’t seem like the aftermath is going to be a positive start.