IFA 2024 Review: Are Those Who Absent Really Always Wrong?

The list of absentees has grown even longer this year. Beko/Grundig, a long-standing exhibitor at IFA, for example, has joined the ranks of brands that are skipping the back-to-school event in Berlin. These include Denon, Philips, Harman, JBL, Onkyo, Pioneer, Marantz, Sony, Yamaha, and even LG, whose stand was almost empty of audio-video equipment.

What does the future hold for the IFA show in Berlin?££££ The question therefore arises as to the future of IFA: will the show survive without its long-standing partners? Behind this main question, many others are emerging: can the TV object, essential for audiovisual brands for decades and a pillar of the overall turnover of electronics, completely disappear from certain stands (for example, LG which until recently still offered an entrance to its grandiose exhibition hall with hundreds of Oled screens)? Will the great European gathering of the EGP become essentially that of white goods (refrigeration, small and large household appliances), IT to a lesser extent and accessories? Will Chinese brands, which have understood the interest in communicating in all directions to be visible, and increasingly present in the aisles and halls of the Messe with many televisions, definitively impose themselves and replace the aforementioned brands and manufacturers?

On the other hand, even if the influence and legitimacy of major international trade fairs have been called into question since the Covid-19 episode, are the absent brands and manufacturers really wrong to ignore these once essential events? When questioned on the subject, the stakeholders concerned respond that they want to control their communication as they wish, even if it means organizing their own events. Some also put forward the cost of these major international trade fairs and their increasingly low return on investment.

The IFA trade fair in Berlin, a reflection of the audio-video market?££££ Two logics are therefore clashing and it is necessary to wait a little longer to obtain reliable answers to all these questions. Certainly, the habit seems to have taken hold and the trend since the health crisis pleads in favor of the absentees with less interesting trade fairs in terms of innovations and less media coverage. But nature abhors a vacuum, this is an opportunity for other brands/manufacturers to shine (for example Thomson or Xgimi in the last two years).

The IFA in Berlin also welcomed an incredible number of previously unknown video projector brands with very interesting products (for example Valerion). More generally, with some exceptions, the list of audio-video exhibitors at the IFA in Berlin reflects the reality of the market: the presence of historic brands is dwindling in stores when they do not simply disappear from the shelves; Korean brands are resisting but suffering badly with declining market shares; Chinese brands are increasingly visible on the shelves and in sales figures.

Fortunately, in addition to the technical demonstrations inherited from the CES 2024 show in Las Vegas which was held last January and already seen in our columns (for example, transparent Micro LED screens at Samsung), some new audio and video products, most often from Chinese manufacturers and brands, were presented on the stands and in our columns. If you missed them, we offer you a catch-up session by clicking on our dedicated IFA 24 news feed or directly on the links to the flagship products of the Berlin 2024 show below:

TVs and video projectors:

• Thomson QLED Google TV, from 32'' to 85''

• Thomson QLED Pro Google TV, from 43'' to 100''

• Thomson Lucid Oled, transparent 55" Google TV TV

• Thomson Mobile TV, 32" LCD TV in tricky caster mode

• TCL NXTFrame and TCL NXTFrame Pro TVs: designer TVs

• TCL X965 4K Ultra HD TV: Mini LED, 6,500 nits, HDR10+, Dolby Vision/Atmos, 144 Hz and Google TV

• TCL C765 4K Ultra HD TV: Mini LED, 2,400 nits, HDR10+, Dolby Vision/Atmos, 144 Hz and Google TV

• Samsung The Premiere 7, Ultra HD 4K ultra-short throw laser projector

• Samsung The Premiere 9, Ultra HD 4K ultra-short throw triple laser projector

• Hisense C2, new Trichroma Ultra HD 4K projector

• Hisense C2 Pro, new Trichroma Ultra HD 4K projector

• Hisense C2 Ultra, new Trichroma Ultra HD 4K projector

• Hisense Micro LED TV prototypes, the manufacturer marks its territory

• Samsung Odyssey 3D, glasses-free 3D monitor

Audio

• Technics SC‑CX700, active Hi-Fi bookshelf speakers

• DTS Clear Dialogue, AI for more audible dialogues

• Sharp HT‑SBW55121, sound bar 5.1.2 Dolby Atmos/DTS:X and Bluetooth 5.3