Survey: More Respondents Trade via Hong Kong Platform; Smart Home
Applications seen as Growth Sector
HONG KONG, Oct 17, 2016 - (ACN Newswire) - The
36th HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition) and the 20th
electronicAsia concluded successfully yesterday (16 October). Held
concurrently over four days at the Hong Kong Convention and
Exhibition Centre (HKCEC), the two fairs attracted a total of close
to 94,000 buyers from 147 countries and regions, where buyer
attendance from Japan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Australia, the
Netherlands, Poland, Russia and Argentina recorded growth. Nearly
65,000 buyers visited the Electronics Fair while around 29,000
visitors attended electronicAsia. The Electronics Fair was
organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), while
electronicAsia was jointly organised by MMI Asia Pte Ltd and the
HKTDC.
"Global economic growth remains sluggish while the fallout from
Brexit is adding to concerns in mature markets. Amid these
uncertainties, Hong Kong companies are facing more challenges
ahead," Benjamin Chau, Deputy Executive Director, HKTDC, said.
"This year we launched the Tech Hall at the fair with two new
thematic zones - Virtual Reality and Startup - as well as organised
a series of startup-themed events in order to help startups meet
with potential investors and partners. The responses we received
during the fairs demonstrate that both exhibitors and buyers
understand how important it is to rise to the challenge in the face
of current economic difficulties."
Survey shows industry players are cautiously optimistic about
market outlook
During the fair period, the HKTDC commissioned an independent
survey, during which a total of 1,052 exhibitors and buyers were
interviewed about the outlook for the electronics market and new
product trends. The survey found that respondents are generally
cautiously optimistic about the market outlook for next year, with
86 per cent of them expecting overall sales to increase or remain
unchanged, and 83 per cent of responding buyers expecting retail
prices to increase or remain unchanged. As for the attractiveness
of doing business via the Hong Kong platform, 61 per cent of
responding buyers and 64 per cent of responding exhibitors - both
up around 10 percentage points over last year - said they will be
sourcing/selling more via Hong Kong in the year ahead.
The survey also covered the industry's views on product trends and
consumer habits. Most of the respondents expect
electronic/electrical accessories to be the product category with
the highest growth potential next year, followed by audio-visual
products and digital imaging products. Seventy per cent of
respondents believe that consumers are making more online purchases
than before, do more price comparison and rely more on online and
social media reviews than those in the print media.
Smart home is one of the next big trends. Over 60 per cent of
respondents expect wireless system items for connection with
Internet or mobile networks to have the highest growth potential in
the next two years, while more than half of the respondents were
willing to pay up to 20 per cent more for electronic products with
smart home applications. These results reveal that developing smart
home-related products is a trend not to be overlooked.
The inaugural Virtual Reality zone received a great deal of
attention, which was reflected in the survey findings. More than 70
per cent of respondents were very positive about the market
potential of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in the next two
years. Within this category, entertainment applications such as
mobile and online games and audio-visual items were perceived to be
the two categories with most potential in the next two years.
Wearable electronics were also seen to have a high level of
potential, according to survey respondents. Seventy-six per cent of
them had a positive perception of market potential of wearable
electronics in the next two years, a 10 percentage point increase
over last year. Smart watches, smart wristbands and other
healthcare/sports-related wearable electronics are the categories
with the greatest market potential in the next two years.
Christian Stammel, CEO of Wearable Technologies AG, a well-known
wearable tech company from Germany, was a speaker at the seminar
"WT| Wearable Technologies Session". He said that wearable
technology has been integrated into all types of electronic
products, and related technology was still at an early stage of
market development. He expected to see more and more new smart
watch-based products. He also predicted good growth for wearable
technology in the healthcare sector, notably for intelligent
patches that can be applied to the body to analyse relevant
healthcare data. As an example, he cited an innovative device
designed to analyse stress levels and achieve calmness through
neuro feedback.
Expanding business opportunities at the Electronics Fair
Local exhibitor Zekino International Limited joined the Electronics
Fair for the first time with their 360 VR drone and VR terrestrial
filming equipment. The company's General Manager, Terry Law, said
that the VR drone attracted attention and enquiries from buyers
from the US, Europe and Southeast Asia. He was impressed that the
fair attracted buyers from all over the world, which created many
business opportunities. The company expects to join the fair again
next year to promote more new products.
Korean household appliances exhibitor Cuckoo Electronics Co., Ltd
joined the Electronics Fair for the first time to expand their
export business. Max Jang and Stanley Min, Regional Managers of the
company's Overseas Business Team, stated that the fair provided a
good location for them to look for new distributors. They found a
potential distributor from Taiwan and will engage in further
negotiations.
Radoslaw Leszek, co-owner of Prolech R.iS Leszek Sp.J., one of
Poland's biggest wholesalers of electronic products, visited the
fairs for the first time with the aim of sourcing various
electronic accessories and components such as cables, chargers,
LEDs, connectors, relays, fuses and sockets. "We have established
contact with about 100 exhibitors and they are offering many
interesting products. We intend to spend over US$1 million," He
said.
Creative ideas at Startup zone capture attention
In view of the growing number of startups in recent years, the
inaugural Startup zone was launched at the fair gathering close to
50 startups from Hong Kong, Canada, the Chinese mainland, Taiwan
and the US to showcase innovative technologies and ideas. Steven
Kayalicos, Director of The Product Group from Australia, was
interested in the new technologies, new ideas and new products at
the Startup zone. Although online connections are more convenient,
Mr Kayalicos said he also likes to meet industry players
face-to-face. Having attended the "Startup Pitching" event he said,
"It is likely that I'll cooperate with two to three startups that I
met at the pitching event. At the fair, I have also found two new
brands of streaming cameras and sports tech products and I'll bring
them to the Australian market. I'll come again next year."
The US crowdfunding platform Indiegogo is an online vehicle for
entrepreneurs to raise money. Ben Bateman, Senior Director,
Strategic Programs, China, Indiegogo, spoke at the seminar "First
Step of Your Startup Project" at the Electronics Fair. He said that
a lot of people put their ideas online through videos or images and
ask others to support their projects. Now that Indiegogo is raising
billions of dollars across different projects, Mr Bateman was very
interested in the products and solutions showcased at the Startup
zone. He said he met with startups and learned about their
commercial ideas during the fair period.
Enthusiastic buyers at electronicAsia
Held concurrently with the Electronics Fair, electronicAsia is an
important sourcing platform for electronic components and
production technologies. The two fairs create synergy that offers
participants new ideas and materials for them to develop new
electronic products. Carlos Antonio Rodrigues, buyer for Brazilian
company Nitere, joined electronicAsia for the first time. He came
to source panel displays and motherboards for ATM machines and
found three potential suppliers from the Chinese mainland on the
first day of the fair. He expected to order several thousand
displays.
Kuan Kun Electronic Enterprise Co., Ltd. from Taiwan presented new
products for automotive applications. Buyers from India, Singapore,
Malaysia, the Philippines and Denmark expressed interest in the
products. Derrick Shih, Sales Director of the company thought that
the fair helped raise their international visibility, meet more
global buyers and expand their business.
Fair websites
HKTDC Hong Kong Electronics Fair (Autumn Edition)
www.hktdc.com/hkelectronicsfairae/
electronicAsia www.hktdc.com/fair/electronicasia-en/
HKTDC Photo Link: http://bit.ly/2e8X81V
Press releases in Chinese at http://mediaroom.hktdc.com/tc.
About HKTDC
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) celebrates its 50th
anniversary this year. The HKTDC is the international marketing arm
for Hong Kong-based traders, manufacturers and services providers.
With more than 40 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese
mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing
business with China and throughout Asia. The HKTDC also organises
international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to
provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities
on the mainland and in overseas markets, while providing
information via trade publications, research reports and digital
channels including the media room. For more information, please
visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus. Follow us on Google+, Twitter @hktdc,
LinkedIn.
Google+: https://plus.google.com/+hktdc
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/hktdc
LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/company/hong-kong-trade-development-council
Source: HKTDC
Contact:
HKTDC
Communication and Public Affairs Department
Joe Kainz
Tel: +852 2584 4216
Email: joe.kainz@hktdc.org
Copyright 2016 ACN Newswire . All rights reserved.
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