DUBROVNIK, Croatia ― More Korean firms plan to flex their muscles at the upcoming consumer electronics trade show in Berlin with Samsung Electronics already confirmed to have the largest display space, said a key executive of the organizing body on Saturday.

“We will have more Korean firms but no area expansion,” Jens Heithecker, global executive director and vice president of Messe Berlin Group, said in an interview with the Korean press. “They already have the largest display space and it’s bigger than some shows itself.”

He also confirmed that OLED televisions will be showcased at IFA, scheduled to be held Aug. 31-Sept. 5, with the mass marketing of the category projected to be seen soon, he said.

“We will see OLED TVs at IFA but it’s highly priced at around 7,000 to 8,000 euros,” said Heithecker. “It’s still expensive to most consumers. However, there will be mass marketing (of OLED TVs) in a couple of years.”

IFA, a trade show of consumer electronics and home appliances, will take place in Berlin for the 52nd time this year.

When asked about 3-D TVs, which were the highlight of IFA last year, he said it was an important feature but “not the point of sale.”

“3-D is not the main topic but (it is) the main feature,” according to Heithecker. “The challenge is that consumers are not sure what will be the standard of 3-D TVs. It’s not brought to the mass market.”

He also said that Samsung ― which is the top exhibitor and will display their consumer goods and home appliance products on 65,000 square meters of space ― is exceptionally “fast and clear” in making its decisions.

“Samsung is not so straight. We have completely different discussions with Samsung,” Heithecker said. “Every Korean company who wants to follow this success, they need to develop marketing strategies and networks.”

On a related front, Messe Berlin’s Dirk Koslowski, who is also the global senior executive manager, also said the Korean technology powerhouses are “on a very competitive stream” opposite from their Japanese rivals.

“The Korean players are creating partnerships for efficiency,” he said. “They just don’t have the products but they are selling the products in a very effective way.”

But he also said the Japanese firms are now investing more in retailers’ partnerships amid Sony’s recent announcement that it will let go 10,000 of its global workforce in its TV business.

Sony plans to have a display space of 60,000 square meters, which is the same size as last year, and Sharp will also have the same display size, said Koslowski, adding that two other Japanese players have applied for bigger space.

By Cho Ji-hyun, Korea Herald correspondent
(sharon@heraldcorp.com)