[Music] [Applause] Val [Music] time [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] for come welcome or how I'd like to say as a native ber well this is this is it this is going to be like the press conference for the epha 2024 and I hope you're just as excited as I am I mean in all these years that I've been here part of the epha itself this the second time that I be hosting the press conference itself but it's not for the first time ever to be here in the cellar in the Su levels of the city Cube which is quite amazing and um therefore just let me give you kind of an idea what's going to happen first and foremost I will actually invite Our Guest here to the stage fate of EA first and foremost Dr Zar van managing director of gfu consumer and home electronics gfu is the brand owner of epha and one of two shareholders of EA management gamb then Lisa hannet CEO of claran events limited the other shareholder in the EPA management joint venture and of course life Lindner CEO of EA management GHA which is responsible for the organization of the trade show so please welcome to the [Applause] [Music] [Music] stage that's exciting welcome back thank you and and as you can tell we just uh saw just a short clip which only shows a small part of a history H this is why I would like to know from you what does 100 Years of epha history mean to you um pleasa we start with you thank you very much Patrice and thank you to the epha community for welcoming us here to thein um for me eepa simplifies Innovation it showcases how the consumer electronics and Home Appliances industry has actually revolutionize the way we live our everyday lives I've always been fascinated by the the progress and the technological deeps and Bounds that the developers suppliers and manufacturers um make and certainly are making um in in the years that we're currently facing these things enhance our everyday lives and as consumers we're always looking for the next thing that can make uh the difference to our everyday lives make it go faster make it go better and have a better experience and I can honestly say in my 30 years of working in the Live Events industry that I don't think I've ever had privilege of working with a brand as recognized and renowned as epha but yet SE in history but has the ability to transform the future thank you so much welcome again life as you can tell life and I pretty much look like uh we look like twin it's not only almost like the same haircut but also we are also like from Berlin so what does EA mean to you yeah EA is a part of my life and of my city as you said um I grew up in Berlin and if I was there every late summer for me it is a symbol of progress and Innovation it still remember I still remember my first visits um as a teenager even then I was fascinated by the technology on this play today as part of the EA management team I'm proud to continue this tradition EA bring the latest Innovation directly to the capital of Germany and makes them accessible to everyone Innovation for all and Dr Zar um I I I don't know if I'm really like actually asking the question correctly because what I wrote down is like can I actually call you an epha veteran I mean what's your special EA moment well I wouldn't call myself a veteran but I already have more than 10 events under my belt so I've been here around a little bit and every time there is a Feeling that grips me and it actually sets in right at this moment when the Halls have already filled up in the journalists on the first morning of the press days and then come the trade visitors the retailers and of course the consumers these are the moments when I realize what all the people involved in the EA project have been working for all a year this vibrant energy is simply unique for me and I'm sure you intensively involved with the EA history over the last few month um are there any particular events that you have made uh that have made a special impression on you well there are so many of them it's hard to put them in one um let me think about it I'll come back to you later right yeah um for me it is clearly the moment when Vice Chancellor vly BR introduced the color television in Western Germany as you saw in the clip um in EA 1967 when he pressed the button the new era began in this moment his quote color TV does not want to be remain a luxury item symbolizes what EA is all about Innovation for all so now that I had a little bit more time to think about it for me one very big milestone was the integration of the home appliances in 2008 that was shortly before I started EA but this integration has a lasting impact on the trade show until today and since then EA has become even more diverse and has a strong core that continues to develop with a broad portfolio um I think for me it's probably a little bit more recent in time and I have to say um in 2022 when we formed the joint venture um between um Clarion and the gfu um it signal for me the opportunity to reimagine the next 100 Years of EPA um alongside the industry our partners and of course the consumers and customers themselves and we're incredibly proud to be part of this story now and in the future ladies and gentlemen once again welcome to Berlin welcome back to EA and most importantly Welcome to our industry's biggest birthday party yet EA turns 100 this year what an anniversary for the world's largest consumer electronics and Home Appliances show and what a history we are looking back at 100 Years of innovation of being at The Cutting Edge of technology and of people coming to Berlin to experience the future but EA is and always has been about so much more than new technologies EA as a connector during the past last 100 years EA has brought together innovators Tech manufacturers and connected them with retailers the media and probably most important with the consumer so how about it have you brought us a birthday present well of course yes you have it's you it's you being here in Berlin it's you joining us for Eva for celebration for me that's best present but we will also keep all the good bits of EA like being here in Berlin one of the most dynamic and vient cities in Europe if you were geek like me and that's probably most of you here then there's a tip during the next few days visit EA 100 the exhibition in the P it's one of the oldest industry trade shows in the world and EPA has been at The Cutting Edge of Technology from its Beginnings in the 1920s focusing on radio and broadcasting all the way to today with Innovations like AI all of a sudden it was possible to reach many people more easily than ever before he highlighted it how important technological progress was for society and how much it takes to achieve Innovation if you want to find out more check out the gfu website which has lots of fascinating details about 100 Years of EA and Technology history so now let's look at the macroeconomic facts first the global economy continues to recover albe it more slowly than we expected consumers also worry about political and economic uncertainties a further decline in global inflation is expected during the next 12 to 18 months however the pace could remain slow especially in Emerging Markets High commodity prices and jeup political tensions are also continuing to drive inflation inflation has a direct impact on our consumer Tech markets looking at the figures starting in q1 2023 we can see the market development improves directly when inflation is decreasing which is shown in Q4 in 2023 then at the beginning of 2024 inflation increased and the market turned negative again this pattern shows a direct correlation between low inflation and a positive Market Trend there's a clear reason for this the disposable income of consumer can be spent only once inflation however had an especially big impact on the costs of so-called fast moving consumer goods consumers cannot avoid paying higher prices for fmcg which means they have less disposable income to spend on consumer Tech looking at the development of the consumer Tech Market there was a stabilization in 2023 on the global level with a volume of just under 1.2 trillion US dollar both segments consumer electronics and Home Appliances have also shown a stable development now let's take a look at the regional breakdown of the consumer and home electronics Market in the first half of 2024 we have a mixed picture some regions showed growth for example Eastern Europe and the Middle East others such as Western Europe and Latin America are recording declines please not at this point all Market figures are shown uh here are based on US dollars at fixed exchange rates due to the changes in exchange rates the data may show different trends when converted into the respective National currencies now after looking at the different regions of the world let's look at the different product categories for the first half of 2024 we can see different trends for the major product groups there are only two segments that show positive results telecommunication products grew by 2.3% and the photo segment grew by 8.1% the consumer electronics and the IT segments declined by 2.5 and 5.4% respectively e-commerce was the only way to do any kind of shopping except for fundamentals for example in Western and Eastern Europe the e-commerce market share is recently Rising again after declining due to the reopening of the stores in 2022 in contrast e-commerce in China is constantly growing since the pandemic and is now even higher than during the pandemic the e-commerce share of the overall consumer Tech Market stabilized at around 35% after the pandemic this means that this phenomenon of online shopping has not returned to its peak yet but the trend is clear our EA next Hall where about 200 startups present their Innovations is a showcase for this aspiration we often think of innovation as something completely new but there's also a lot of innovation in companies further de who further develop existing products which can also be found in the area of digital health for example this is this very Innovative and young area will play an even larger role in the future soon they will be able to use their own artificial cognitive assistance however in many cases need and demand consumers need and demand much more information and explanation and [Music] iuse and so we have a little special gift for him which I would like to bring him now quickly P thank you very much for being our loyal of years firstday KS for you [Music] [Applause]