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The CEATEC 2001 Exhibition – among Japan's largest trade shows – took place October 2 to October 6, 2001, at the Makuhari Messe exhibition hall north of Tokyo bay. CEATEC (the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies – Providing Image, Information, and Communications), which was called the "Japan Electronics Show" prior to Year 2000, brings together device, component, and materials suppliers; large OEMs in consumer electronics; and service providers (particularly players in wireless communications services). In effect, in one huge exhibition, attendees can see the entire foodchain -- from component technologies, to products, to services – that make up the electronics industry.
CEATEC is definitely a Japanese show, but exhibitors from elsewhere in Asia are in strong evidence, particularly among the device and component suppliers. The audience comes from around the world.
While CEATEC is so huge and diverse that it resists a quick summary, each year a few technologies or products emerge that seem to provide particular insight into the direction of travel of the Japanese consumer electronics industry. This year, from our perspective, the leading stories were: (1) the introduction of 3G wireless services in Japan, with interesting, if somewhat hazy, glimpses of where 3G is headed; (2) the emergence of organic electro-luminescent (OEL) display as an important technology, and one with the potential to create some havoc in the LCD business; and (3) a strengthening of the trend, evident for some time, toward products with embedded imaging capabilities – "imaging in everything."
Portelligent analysts have prepared brief profiles of developments at CEATEC, and more broadly in Japan and Asia, in three technology domains: 3G Wireless Systems and Services, Flat Panel Display, and Imaging Technologies. These reports are available to all Portelligent Channel and TechAlert Service subscribers. |