Organisers of Berlin consumer electronics show IFA cancelled the Global Markets segment of its already pared-down trade event, but remain convinced they will be able to host the remaining three strands planned for early September.

The B2B supply chain-focused Global Markets part of the show, which had a capacity of 1,000 visitors per day, was cut due to persistent travel restrictions preventing exhibitors from many of its core Asian markets from attending.

It was expected to contribute a quarter of the attendees expected across the entire event, in addition to a significant number of exhibitors.

In a statement IFA executive director Jens Heithecker said: The decision to postpone this event section of IFA 2020 Special Edition to 2021 was not an easy one for us. Especially since almost 600 companies were eager to present themselves in Berlin this year. Yet we have to accept that, with ongoing travel restrictions, for many of our partners it is simply impossible to plan and prepare for this years IFA Global Markets.

Major exhibitor Samsung had already dropped out of attending IFA 2020 citing Covid-19 (coronavirus) concerns. Companies confirming their attendances include Huawei, JVC Kenwood, LG, Qualcomm and Schneider Electric.

Despite the cancellation of the Global Markets section, organisers intend to press-on with the three remaining parts of the physical event which include media launches, keynote sessions, start-up networking event and meeting lounges.

When it announced full details of the rearranged event (having postponed the original in April), it outlined four standalone parts of the event with a maximum attendance of 1,000 per day in each strand. This was already a vastly reduced scale to its usual annual event, with the 2019 edition hosting 240,000 attendees and 2,000 exhibitors.

It also plans a virtual event for those not able to attend the physical version.

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Travel restrictions force further IFA cutbacks - Mobile World Live