Suppliers' impressions from IFA 2022

After a three-year hiatus due to the pandemic, IFA 2022 was held in Berlin from September 2-6, and Messe Berlin announced that the fair was visited by just over 161,000 people, of which 2,500 were from the media. In 2019, the number of visitors was 238,700 people, of which 5,360 were from the media.

APPLiAnytt has spoken to some of our members and suppliers at the fair to find out how they experienced the fair, what trends they saw and what the most important messages from them were.

Wilfa – Mattias Forsell
– IFA 2022 was about 30 percent smaller and of course it was a different trade fair than before, which can be both positive and negative. When it comes to trends, there was a lot of color in 2019, but now more sober colors are the order of the day. After three years of teams and images, it was extremely important for us at Wilfa to attend the trade fair and show the company we are. Let visitors feel and hold the products, meet partners and show off the full concept we have been working on for many years.

Severin – Robert Marcuse
– It was fun to be at the fair again. In general, there weren't quite as many people as before, but many are still a bit hesitant and may refrain from visiting as it's not always clear whether the event will take place. For my part, I thought it was good to have visitors, a lot of private individuals, but it is a public fair.

– I noticed a plethora of air fryers and stick vacuum cleaners at the fair. Both at brand suppliers, the smaller companies with their own brands and in the China halls. In addition, I saw several retro products in everything from coffee makers and toasters to fridge/freezers and microwave ovens in many different retro colors.

– The most important thing for us at the fair, besides attending and showcasing our brand, was to present the world first FILKA, the first fully automatic filter coffee maker.

Electrolux – Palle Laursen
– It became clear during the fair that IFA has been greatly missed by many. We believe that people have missed the opportunity to meet in person, touch and feel products. This year there was a very wonderful and positive atmosphere around the innovations that were shown. People were curious and there was a high level of energy at the fair.

– Since IFA 2019, it seems that many suppliers have focused on further developing new designs, further developing the possibilities that connectivity provides, but also on offering more sustainable solutions for consumers. The key areas for most suppliers were connectivity and sustainability. For Care, microplastic solutions were presented in particular by most suppliers.

– The most important message from our side during the fair was ”human-centric”, that is, products and solutions developed with the consumer in focus, and sustainability. The consumer is at the center of everything we do. In our development, in our communication, in our contact with consumers – in everything. We want to ensure that the consumer gets the best experience from our products. This is reflected in the news we bring to the market.

– During this year's IFA, the most important news from our side were our new AEG washing series – Ruby, a completely redesigned built-in Cold platform and the further development of our range of hobs with integrated fan.

– Then sustainability is an incredibly important area for us. We are extremely careful to include the sustainability perspective in everything we do. Everything from how we produce, the choice of materials used to the energy consumption of our products. We want to be able to bring our products to market in the most sustainable way and make it possible and easy for the consumer to make sustainable choices.

BSH – Olivier Rothmann
– IFA defended its position as the leading international trade fair in Europe for consumer electronics and household appliances, and it was great to finally meet again and showcase our new product innovations. Despite the difficulties the world is facing, there was a good and positive atmosphere among both producers and retailers.

– There was less focus on new product launches and more focus on presenting complete solutions, such as sustainable and connected products that are part of digital ecosystems. We also saw greater volume capacity within certain product categories, such as the refrigeration and laundry categories.

– The most important message from us at IFA this year was that BSH has a clear focus on connected and sustainable household appliances with innovative, smart technical solutions and services, which improve the quality of life for our consumers every day. For example, we will launch new premium series of ovens, the Siemens iQ700 and Bosch Series 8, which have been developed entirely based on feedback from our consumers. All ovens have Home Connect and some of the oven models come with a camera and a new function called ”Individual Browning”. In the Home Connect app, you choose how the dish should be cooked and how well-browned you want it. The camera in the oven monitors the cooking and via AI (Artificial Intelligence) the oven knows when the dish has reached the desired doneness and switches itself off automatically. This way you get a perfect result without constantly monitoring the oven. If you want, you can of course follow the cooking and baking via the camera in the Home Connect app.

Miele
– It was an extra great pleasure to meet customers and colleagues after several years of not having physical meetings and networking. An overall trend at the fair this year was that sustainability was in focus in various ways. Less water, less energy, more recycled materials and so on.

– In addition to the benefits of our new products, sustainability was our most important message. How Miele focuses on sustainability throughout the product's entire life cycle, from the choice of raw materials and manufacturing process to the importance of the products' long lifespan. An important message is also the product's environmental impact at home and how consumers can also reduce the environmental impact when using the products.

Text: Ola Larsson

Image: Messe Berlin

Links to information from press conferences

Links to information from press conferences held on August 31 and September 1 are below.

APPLiAnytt