Press Conference on Taiwan New Products & COMPUTEX TAIPEI
Demonstrating Taiwan's ICT Strength in Las Vegas' CES Show

The 24^th Consumer Electronics Show, America's biggest annual B2C consumer electronics tradeshow, was held from 8 to 11 January 2009. The organizer stated that the global economic gloom resulted in a slight decrease in the number of exhibitors, though it still came close to 2,700, while the number of buyers is estimated to have fallen to 130,000 from 140,000 of last year.

The show attracted close to 300 Taiwan companies, about 100 less than last year. Their products were in display together with those from mainland China, Hong Kong and Korea at the expo and convention centers of the Sands Hotel and the Hilton. Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) took the occasion to hold a press conference on Taipei's international ICT (information and communication technologies) tradeshows at Casanova 506 of The Venetian. Participants were briefed on the steady growth of COMPUTEX TAIPEI, the largest show of its type in Asia, despite the economic downturn. About 30 buyers and journalists from nine countries (including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, and Germany) were invited to visit well-known ICT exhibitions in Taiwan like those on flat panel displays, broadband, and RFID, as well as the TAITRONICS autumn show.

Famous Taiwan brands such as Asus, Mio, Thermaltake, Optoma and Genius took the opportunity to present their latest hot products, including the Netbook with moso bamboo panel cover and the Eee series from Asus. MiTAC, the producer of the versatile Mio GPS mobile devices, displayed its research and development capability beyond desktop computers, while Genius, a premium brand in computer peripherals like mouse, keyboard, DV and digital photo frame, has been very successful in emerging markets. Products introduced also included the super cooling chassis recommended for DIY players from Thermaltake and the world's smallest handheld projector from Optoma.

In an effort to attract American buyers to visit tradeshows like COMPUTEX TAIPEI, TAITRONICS, BROADBAND TAIWAN and TAIWAN RFID, besides inviting participants of the press conference, joint service and promotion booth were set up at the expo halls of the Hilton and Sands and the central hall to promote the Taiwantrade portal (www.taiwantrade.com.tw) and the above procurement platforms to international buyers. Information regarding the Taiwantrade corporate sites and the various services provided by TAITRA was also disseminated. Visiting buyers were mostly familiar with COMPUTEX TAIPEI, strong evidence of the growing international popularity of the tradeshow.

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