Friday, March 21, 2003
Economic troubles and war fears took their toll on this year's CeBIT IC trade show in Hannover, Germany, which wrapped up Wednesday, just as the U.S.-lead war on Iraq began.
Show organizers report that attendance was down by 17 percent from 2003, with just 560,000 attendees this year. According to a research note from Jon Peddie Research, there were 1,500 fewer exhibitors at the show this year. Analysts from Jon Peddie also noted that there were seemingly much fewer North American participants at CeBIT than normal.
The economy and war didn't keep the industry away from Semicon China, however. The official registered attendance for the show, held March 12 through March 14, was 14,179, up considerably from the previous year's attendance of 11,238.
Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) spokesman Jonathan Davis said that the mood at this year's show didn't seem to be affected by the economy or threat of the war in Iraq. "Europa might be a different story," Davis added, as SEMI, which presents the Semicon shows, has already gotten inquiries about the status of Semicon Europa, which takes place April 1 through April 3.
SEMI plans to go ahead with the show; in the 32-year history of Semicons, only a couple of shows have had to be postponed, and in those cases because of weather, Davis recalled. Semicon Taiwan was postponed a day a few years ago because of a typhoon. SEMI continued to hold Semicons throughout the Gulf War in the early 1990s.
By: DocMemory
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