SHANGHAI, CHINA - The Asia Electronics Exhibition in Shanghai 2012(AEES 2012), which opened at the Shanghai New International Expo Center (SNIEC) on October 31st, closed its three-day exhibition on November 1st. This year’s event garnered participation from 239 companies with 489 booths from five countries including Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The event was deemed successful with approximately 60,000 visitors. Marking the 9th anniversary, officials evaluated that AEES and confirmed its position as Asia’s top electronic s exhibition.
At the co-opening ceremony of AEES and CEF (China Electronics Fair), Sang-heon Jeon, Executive Vice president of KEA said, “This year’s Korean Hall is composed of 52 booths from 35 companies that will introduce high-tech consumption goods and parts. These products include ICT products, home appliances, robots, cosmetics and healthcare products, as well as precision parts.” He especially stressed that this year’s entries of the Korean Hall are those that added new ideas to previously existing products, such as the world’s first wall mounted mini-drum washer, a sterilizing water maker, Alkaline ionized water maker, medical equipment, beauty devices, a service robot, robot cleaner, a study assistance device, video security system, and a large-screen 3D HMD (Head Mounted Display).
K-Style Korean Hall
The Korean Hall was perhaps all the more popular due to the recent fever of Psy’s Gangnam Style. Korean companies attracted visitors by introducing unique K-style products. The highlight of the Korean Hall was the special performances on the stage located near the exhibition entrance, which included K-pop performances, a demonstration of Taekwondo, as well as various products made in Korea. On the 1st and 2nd day of the AEES 2012, there were 30-minute Korean Wave performances including a girl group called “Nine Muses” and a demonstration of Taekwondo from Yong-in University. These were followed by product demonstrations by participating companies on the special stage throughout the day.
This year’s product demonstration was more popular then ever, since more than half of the participating companies participated. The demonstration was so popular that unprepared companies are determined to join next year. Requests to join the demonstration at the last moment were turned down because there were no spaces available.
Sang-min Jin, director of Myung Shin Medical, showed his determination by saying, “The response to the product demonstration is more than expected. We will definitely be prepared for the demonstration during AEES 2013.” He also added, “This is the first time we participated in the AEES since we had been focusing on the exhibitions of beauty and healthcare. It will bring us satisfactory results since we managed to have a meeting with genuine buyers from China.”
This year’s product demonstration, led by seventeen companies, including Daewoo Electronics, Dahmi IND, EMW, Grentech, MC Square, and Sein ENG, was the place where the Chinese market response to the Korean products was instantly felt. The demonstration was given with presentations and product demonstrations, and the Chinese MC’s witty comments helped Chinese visitors understanding.
China, Shifting from Cheap to Premium
Gone is the image of China that only pursued cheap prices regardless of quality. The rich in China are now prosumers who actively request what they want from importers. Chinese buyers who visited the Korean Hall at AEES 2012 were actively seeking the products that suited their tastes. The products at the Korean Hall that were the center of attention were those that target a premium market. In particular, questions poured in from buyers regarding beauty and health products, premium appliances, and innovative precision parts, which demonstrated China’s purchasing power as a global market.
Daewoo Electronics was especially outstanding at AEES 2012. Reported as the first player at the product demonstration in China’s TV and newspapers, the company attracted a lot of buyers. The world’s first wall mounted mini-drum washer was by far the most impressive. The washer gained immense praise in terms of its design and practicability for singles, and amazed the audience by demonstrating motors with no vibration and sound. Daewoo Electronics found the home appliance market for singles a niche market, and now the company is leading the market by introducing a variety of Premium-mini products with premium functions and stylish designs.
Grentech drew visitors’ attention by introducing sterilizing system. Its brand of sterilizing system, Riazero, is the compound word of bacteria and zero. The system creates the sterilized water by using the platinum catalyst. Kyung-hee Oh, President of Grentech, said that the company participated in the product demonstration for the first time to make inroads into the Chinese market and the response was greater than expected. He also analyzed that China is more interested in sterilized water than Korea since the country has experienced SARS or AI. Grentech drew much attention by demonstrating the process of sterilizing water at its own booths, not to mention their participation in the product demonstration.
China-Korea Sales Fair, Main Booster for Opening Up a Market
The China-Korea Sales Fair was held at the business lounge in the Korean Hall to open up a trade route between Chinese and Korean businesses. The fair has been a strong booster to promote practical trading between businesses of the two countries. The fair was especially popular among businesses that participated in AEES for the first time. It is because the fair is a good opportunity for novice companies that are considering entering the Chinese market to be able to read the market trends in China and subsequently complete business deals.
China-Korean Sales Fair was designed for one-on-one business consulting between Korean participating companies and potential buyers including top 100 business executives in the Chinese IT sector. This year’s fair was considered the best ever as the consulting at the Korean Hall amounted to $82,476,000 and the potential contracts reached USD 62,565,000.
Woon-ho Lee, Director General for Trade of Ministry of Knowledge Economy who visited the exhibition site in Shanghai explained, “The government is stepping up its support in export marketing due to the unfavorable export conditions from the global recession. AEES is one of the buyer marketing businesses that have successfully overcome the export crisis.” He also added, “Positive outcomes are expected since our businesses are performing active business activities at AEES 2012.”
