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Distributors
December 5, 2018
Reduction in exhibitors is final nail in the coffin
Former exhibitors at CEBIT have said they are “not surprised” that Deutsche Messe has decided to cancel the exhibition.
The trade fair operator made the announcement on the CEBIT website on Wednesday (November 28) and said that the decision was taken after a fall in the number of exhibitors at the show.
Speaking to Mobile News, representatives from businesses that were going to exhibit or were involved with the show next year said they had noticed a reduction in the number of exhibitors present at the show this year.
Eurostar purchasing manager Brendan Nicholls said: “CEBIT has been a stalwart in mobile phone trading for the past 15 years but recently we’ve seen a decline in the people there.
“It has gone from five days to four days and there were still empty stands. So it doesn’t come as a massive surprise that CEBIT has been cancelled.”
International Phone Traders (IPT) sales director Ed Elliot-Square said: “IPT has been supporting CEBIT since 2001. Although we are in shock, we are not surprised.
“I think that the decline in overall visitor numbers and the general attitude towards CEBIT over the past four or five years has meant that the writing has been on the wall.”
Phoenix Cellular director and co-founder Paul Walters said he had noticed that exhibitor numbers had declined last year but was still surprised to hear the news that the exhibition had been cancelled.
Walters said enquiries by busineses for used devices at CEBIT had increased.
“I am surprised CEBIT has been cancelled. Last year was quieter than previous years, but we still did a lot of business there. There was a higher percentage of used-phone sellers but still a mix of other companies from the Middle East and Europe.
Nicholls added: “Over the last few years CEBIT has shifted so that everyone there is trading in the secondary market. We were the only ones from the UK selling new handsets to have a stand last year and we had seen a massive decline there.”