Published March 5, 2009

No downsizing at year's first tech show

IT Show bucks the trend with more participants over larger space

By WINSTON CHAI

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(SINGAPORE) When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping, or so hope the organisers of the annual IT Show.

Packing them in: The organiser expects this year's show to attract 740,000 visitors. Last year's show (above) drew some 700,000 shoppers.

While the economy is shrinking, the first of Singapore's quarterly line-up of gadget fairs is expanding in the face of general belt- tightening.

To be held from March 12 to 15 at the Suntec Convention Centre, this year's IT Show will see a 10 per cent increase in exhibition area from 2008 to a record 330,000 square feet, according to Melvin Koh, general manager of event organiser Eastern Directories.

Five floors of gadget dreamland await shoppers who are willing to brave the human jams to snap up promotions and bundles on show favourites such as flat-panel televisions, notebooks, printers and digital cameras.

With the gloomy retail outlook, more and more technology companies appear to be banking on the buzz generated at trade fairs such as the IT Show to lift their sales tally.

Exhibition space for the upcoming show was sold out way in advance, with more than 800 taking part this time round. The figure is a 2.5 per cent increase from 2008, Mr Koh revealed.

Familiar international names such as Acer, Dell, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, as well as the three local telcos will again be out in full force to tempt consumers into loosening their purse strings.

With the stronger exhibitor backing, organisers are bullish that the cash registers will ring to a new high this year despite the deepening recession.

'We are expecting 740,000 visitors for this coming IT Show with sales over $55 million in four days. Given the sheer volume of the show itself across five entire show floors, consumers can expect a wide variety of bundles, promotions and bargains,' Mr Koh told BT.

In 2008, the event attracted some 700,000 shoppers and generated $53 million in takings.

To meet the higher targets this year, exhibitors and banks are set to join hands and offer attractive financing schemes such as interest-free instalment plans to coax consumers to spend.

All three local banks - UOB, DBS and OCBC - are taking part in the show, along with their foreign counterparts such as Citibank and Maybank. 'For the first time, Nets will also be participating,' Mr Koh added.

Although the health of the local economy has progressively deteriorated over the course of 2008, sales at all four technology trade fairs last year - the IT Show, PC Show, Comex and Sitex - bucked the decline and instead raked in record sales.

Market watchers say consumers could be holding out on their regular purchases for the opportunity to bargain hunt during such events.

Some analysts also believe that Singaporeans are substituting big-ticket items such as family holidays with cheaper, stay- home distractions such as a new TV or entertainment system as they wait out the downturn.