The IFA, the science and technology trade fair in Berlin, which had Albert Einstein as guest of honor in 1930, is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2024. Almost 2,000 exhibitors from 48 countries are now meeting there for this 2023 edition, covering an area of more than 20 football pitches. The innovations presented are state-of-the-art: from portable televisions to vacuum cleaners that work with artificial intelligence.
Honor, the Chinese smartphone maker, used the show to unveil a new foldable phone model that could compete with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 5. The latter claims that its foldable phones attract three times more customers than its regular phones.
The booming foldable device market is helping to offset the global decline in smartphone sales. South Korea, the United States and China – which is driving innovation in connected health – are the main countries represented at IFA. The local manufacturer DJI, based in Shenzhen, has completely displaced the American manufacturer 3D Robotics.
France is also represented with a connected watch from Withings that continuously measures temperature, records fluctuations in heart and breathing rates and tracks menstrual cycles.
And the environment in all this? The Dutch company Fairphone took advantage of IFA to present its latest smartphone, equipped with a battery with increased autonomy. The manufacturer, which promotes the repair of mobile phones, has been working with the French company Murena, founded by Gaël Duval, since 2020. The latter developed an operating system /e/OS compatible with Android applications, independently of Google. Proof that European innovation has not yet said its last word.