CEATEC JAPAN 2006

Duration

October 3rd - 7th 2006

Location

Makuhari Messe (Nippon Convention Center)

Exhibition Trends

The annual CEATEC JAPAN exhibition was held for the seventh time in 2006. It was a major event, bringing together cutting-edge products and technologies from the image, information and communications fields. The theme of this year's event was "Digital Convergence, Changing Society, Lifestyles and Business." It attracted 807 exhibiting companies and organizations (19 more than the previous year), including 283 overseas entities from 26 countries and regions outside Japan. With a total of 2,936 booths, CEATEC JAPAN 2006 attracted 194,267 visitors over its 5-day period.

Coverage of the exhibits has steadily increased. This year, a total of 2,093 people from the mass media attended, clearly surpassing the previous year's level. In addition to Japan, media representatives (including web media) from more than 25 overseas countries covered CEATEC JAPAN, underscoring the event's high profile globally. Moreover, many exhibitors used the occasion to seize new business opportunities, testimony to CEATEC JAPAN's recognition as a truly international exhibition.

The exhibition was divided into the Digital Network Stage and the Electronic Components, Devices & Industrial Equipment Stage. The Digital Network Stage, where the key words were "high resolution," featured a host of new products from various home electronic appliance manufacturers. They included largescreen displays, including LCD, rear-projection and SED models, as well as DVD recorders. Next-generation optical disks were represented by manufacturers of both Blu-ray Discs and HD DVDs, who used the event to announce their latest players and recorders. With the added inclusion of video contents, the Digital Network Stage seemed to enter a new phase in its evolution. There was also a full array of "must see" offerings, including power line communication (PLC) equipment, next-generation mobile telephones, terrestrial digital broadcasting equipment, 1-segment (1-seg) broadcasting devices and home networks. The Stage also featured many world-first, industry-first, Japan-first and other prototype products incorporating pioneering technologies.

Amid further advances in mobile technologies, the Electronic Components, Devices & Industrial Equipment Stage featured a multitude of items, including circuit components that were significantly lighter, smaller and thinner than existing products, as well as passive components, connection/conversion components and sensors. Other highlights included fuel cells and display devices for mobile telephones. New products and technologies for inclusion in next-generation automobiles were also major standouts. Once again, the exhibition saw a series of robot displays in various locations, highlighted by Murata Seisaku-kun, a robot made by Murata Seisakusho, which drew attention to the new potential offered by electronic components and devices.

Until just a few years ago, the various sectors covered by CEATEC JAPAN-such as communications, broadcasting, home electronic appliances, personal computers and mobile telephones-advanced and developed within the context of their respective domains. Having entered the age of "digital convergence," however, the boundaries between such domains have disappeared. Many are beginning to integrate, bound by the common thread of digital technology, with the promise of giving birth to brand-new industries. The spread of terrestrial digital broadcasting, for example, has spurred the popularity of Full HD technologies across the entire audiovisual industry, as well as the practical application of next-generation optical disks. Mobile telephones and car navigation systems have also advanced in response to the launch of 1-seg broadcasting. All of this underscores the incredible potential of home network systems, which enable such devices and technologies to communicate with each other. Then there was a host of electronic components and devices incorporating the latest technologies to support these products. In the context of this "digital convergence" onslaught, visitors to CEATEC JAPAN 2006 undoubtedly would have felt the impact of reality, characterized by swiftly disappearing borders between traditional industrial sectors.

Exhibitors: 807

Visitors: 194,267