Big Exhibitors Bailing Out of CeBIT 2007

It may be too early to say categorically that the influence of CeBIT is waning, but it is at least losing some of its largest exhibitors.

It all started a few years ago, with Sony, Canon and Philips announcing they would no longer take part in Deutsche Messe's massive information and communications technology show at Messe Hannover in Germany. Then, like in a bad dream, more names came in a wave this year: first Nokia, then BenQ, and finally Motorola, all deciding not to re-up their booth space for 2007.

Every one of the defectors is among the most successful in its respective sector, sharing common financial reassessments, changing marketing patterns and launches of company-sponsored events as their reasons for passing on CeBIT.

Nokia media relations manager Keith Nowak, said, "It really came down to the fact that the big regional show (for mobile) is 3GSM World Congress (held Feb. 13–16 in Barcelona, Spain), and we're doing a lot of our own events as well."

A Motorola spokesperson told Tradeshow Week the company was not able to offer any information at this time. BenQ did not respond to requests for comment.

Sven-Michael Pruser, senior vice president of Deutsche Messe, CeBIT's owner and management company, said, "Nokia, BenQ and Motorola have told CeBIT management that they don't want to exhibit at the show in 2007 in the same manner as 2006. There are alternatives, but at this point neither the companies nor CeBIT management is in a position to communicate what they are."

Nowak said Nokia had exhibited at CeBIT for some time, but in recent years the show had become "really Germany-focused and too regional."

Pruser said he normally doesn't comment on his customers' statements, but in this case he felt that, on the contrary, it "is a matter of fact that CeBIT is by far the most international event in the entire information and communications technology (ICT) sector."

"CeBIT 2006 hosted more than 100,000 attendees from abroad," he said.

In sheer numbers, CeBIT is gargantuan. The 2005 show saw more than 480,000 attendees and 6,200 exhibitors. Even though attendance dipped by 30,000 in 2006, the showfloor still took up 303,757 square meters (3.27 million square feet) March 9–15 at the Hannover Exhibition Center, making it the world's largest ICT show.

CeBIT's size may be the problem. The 2006 3GSM was a much smaller show, with 50,000 attendees focused on the mobile market, one reason Nowak gave for Nokia skipping CeBIT.

Nokia also has its own events, such as Open Studio, held April 25 in Berlin.

"When you're doing your own events, there's only so much value in seeing some of the same people over and over again," Nowak said. "It (CeBIT) sort of became somewhat redundant for us."

Paralleling the ups and downs of the entire technology sector, CeBIT has struggled with its own issues over the years. In its early days it was part of the larger Hannover Fair, but by 1986 it was clear that ICT warranted its own show. Attendance swelled in the mid-'90s to more than 750,000. However, according to CeBIT research, 29 percent of visitors were non-attending professionals — in other words, not necessarily qualified buyers. Deutsche Messe decided to "reprofessionalize" the show in 1996 by raising admission prices and cutting back on show days, which trimmed non-professional attendees to 12 percent.

"Someone who is eager for information isn't automatically a good lead," Pruser admitted. That fact, combined with a downturn in the ICT sector beginning in 2000, has led to a gradual decline in CeBIT attendance in the last few years.

But, Pruser insisted, that is not such a bad thing. "From an exhibitor's standpoint, attendance has declined, but the quality of the audience, i.e., attendees with purchasing power and authority, has improved," he said. "For instance, this year's exhibitors reported a 20-percent increase in the number of business contacts."

For now, it's too early to tell whether the absence of Motorola, BenQ and Nokia will result in another dip in attendance at the March 15–21, 2007, show.

Pruser said DMAG has already sold more space for CeBIT 2007 than for this year's event, and he is hopeful that some of the companies will change their minds.

"Keep in mind we still have some time until CeBIT opens its doors again," he said. "I know that many of the sales representatives working for the aforementioned companies (Motorola, BenQ and Nokia) would have preferred to take part."