More than 73,000 visitors attended electronica 2014

Sectors such as automotive and health care, as well as the manufacturing industry, are offering opportunities for growth.These prospects ensured a euphoric atmosphere in the halls, buoyed by the latest figures from the sector. Christoph Stoppok, Managing Director of the Electronic Components and Systems Association and the PCB and Electronic Systems Association in the ZVEI (German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association) expects the world market for electronic components to grow by over 4% and reach a value of approximately $527bn over the coming year. 

More than 73,000 trade visitors from over 80 countries came to Munich. As the survey carried out by the market research institute TNS Infratest showed, visitor satisfaction remains extremely high: 96% rated the eventgood to excellent.

In terms of the number of visitors, the top countries were Germany followed by Italy, Austria, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Switzerland, France, the Czech Republic and the USA. There was a significant increase in the number of visitors from Italy, China, Austria, India and Slovenia.

2,737 exhibitors from 50 countries presented their products and technologies. This represents an increase of 2.5% compared to the previous event. In terms of the number of exhibitors, the leading country was Germany followed by China, Taiwan, the USA, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Italy, France, Switzerland and the Republic of Korea. Exhibitor satisfaction increased again, surpassing the already excellent result in 2012.

On the first day of the trade fair, the CEOs of Infineon Technologies, Freescale Semiconductor, NXP Semiconductors and STMicroelectronics discussed the challenges and opportunities offered by the IoT. Those taking part in the discussion agreed that the potential for the semiconductor industry is enormous. The issue of security plays a key role here. The IT2Industry Conference got off to a successful start, where more than 300 visitors found out about the industrial IoT. Topics included M2M/mobility, IT and sensors, IT and security, industrial software, infrastructure and digital networks as well as IT and energy. More than 160 visitors came to the embedded platforms conference. The programme included presentations on solutions and services for the development of embedded platforms. The electronica automotive conference also attracted more than 160 participants from 20 countries. The focus here was on sensor fusion, connectivity and lighting. In addition to this, in-depth discussions on topics such as cyber security, power electronics and software took place during the electronica forums.

Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer, Deputy CEO of Messe München, said: "electronica has shown that the world is increasingly moving together. We need global platforms such as electronica to make this possible."

Kurt Sievers, Chairman of the electronica Advisory Board, EVP and General Manager Automotive, NXP Semiconductors, commented: "Global connectivity and therefore the issue of security are the themes that will be relevant in the future. By giving customers the opportunity to develop applications that we might not even have thought about at the moment, the electronics industry is driving this success."