Computex 2020 Officially Cancelled As COVID-19 Claims Another Tech Trade Show
Another technology trade show—Computex 2020—has effectively been cancelled as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. Officially, the Taiwan Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and Taipei Computer Association (CTA), the organizes of the annual Computex trade show, say they have decided to "reschedule" the event to sometime in 2021, but that amounts to a cancellation.
It is hard to imagine there being two Computex Taipei events next year. Indeed, the announcement says Computex 2021 will take place from June 1 through June 5 next year, the same dates the trade show was originally scheduled for this year.
Whether anyone wants to call it a cancellation or rescheduling, the bottom line is there will not a Computex trade show in 2020. This is for the best—he organizers note that as of June 11, more than 7,350,000 people across 187 countries have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
"During this difficult time, the organizers’ heart and sympathy are with those who are affected around the world. In the meantime, stay strong and fight on. After rolling with the punches, the organizers look forward to see you in Computex 2021 and drive the resilience in the global ICT ecosystem together," TAITRA and CTA said.
Last year, Computex attracted nearly 42,500 visitors from 171 countries, and hosted 1,685 exhibitors from 30 countries. Companies often announcement products and show off prototypes during the convention. During Computex 2019, Intel trotted out a dual-screen gaming laptop concept and introduced its Optane Memory M15 with 3D XPoint, and we also saw the unveiling of some super fast PCIe 4.0 SSDs, among other things.
Taiwan has reported a relatively low number of confirmed Coronavirus cases (just 443), but even so, the large gathering of people from around the world would have presented an unnecessary risk. It remains to be seen when things will return to normal, or a new normal (whatever that might be), though interestingly enough, the organizers of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) are still planning an in-person convention in January 2021.
