Macworld | iWorld Asia 2014 Opens

BEIJING, Aug. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Macworld | iWorld Asia 2014, co-organized by the Beijing Investment Promotion Bureau and International Data Group (IDG), opened at the China National Convention Center on August 21. The event focused on the latest technologies, cutting-edge products, partnership opportunities and thought leadership from industry insiders, driving the convergence of the Apple ecosystem and the mobile internet sector through exhibitions, summit forums and interactive experiences. It is expected to become a new economic engine by highlighting new development trends, exploring a new economic model and furthering the growth of the mobile internet sector.

Exhibitors gather to create a large-scale "meeting of the minds" for the Apple ecosystem

Beijing Investment Promotion Bureau deputy director Zhang Hua and IDG Communications Worldwide CEO Michael Friedenberg spoke at the opening ceremony, expression their expectation for the success of the event. More than 500 companies from the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and North America as well as more than 600 media organizations, 1,600 developers and 20,000 professionals from all points of the globe attended the event, with the number of attendees expected to surpass 150,000. Among the exhibitors, 38.9 percent are from outside of China and 30.8 percent have exhibited every year. According to the organizers' latest statistics, the event was an instant success with more than 50,000 visitors in attendance on the first day.

This year's 42,000-sqaure meter exhibition space allowed visitors to quickly find the featured products they were interested in, while the exhibition booths attracted much attention from the endless stream of visitors. A number of exhibition areas provided an unforgettable interactive experience for visitors. The Apple fans exchange zone created a unique "Macworld | iWorld" area for Apple aficionados who could not only see, hear and learn about what's new but engaging and playing with the new products. The trendsetting music runway provided an opportunity for music fans to experience a variety of new DJ equipment, iPad electronic musical instruments and professional iPad mobile music production facilities. The WO + DreamWorks "Intelligent Technology Camp" displayed a variety of novel and cool intelligent technology products, providing an innovative and holistic 360-degree view of what the smart home of the future will look like as a result of the mobile ecosystem convergence. Macworld's The Best Awards honored outstanding Apple peripheral suppliers and products.

Summit forums create a "wisdom" festival and promote technological innovation

Business leaders, technology pioneers and entrepreneurs from Asia, Europe and the US gathered at the summit forums to share their insights as part of a high-end "wisdom" festival. Intel Labs China director Wu Gansha described three scenarios for technological innovation. Baidu Institute of Deep Learning (IDL) deputy director Yu Kai delivered a keynote speech entitled "The Artificial Intelligence of the Internet". Haier, Xiaomi and JD.com held roundtable discussions on "The Bright Future for the Smart Home". Speakers with different areas of expertise and various backgrounds advised on technological innovation. Hugo Shong, Executive Vice President of IDG, Chairman of IDG Greater China, Founding General Partner of IDG Capital Partners and Chairman of Beijing Private Equity Association, said in an interview that China's entrepreneurs are becoming younger and that he encourages young people to start their own businesses.

In particular, this year's event brought together many young entrepreneurs, including many post-90s internet up-and-comers. The marketing model is constantly evolving in the new era of mobile ecosystem convergence. The "Crowdfunding Space" based on the mobile internet and networking platform, for example, provides a new financing channel for young entrepreneurs.

Each of the topical forums, The Product Development Forum, the Mobile Gaming Forum, the Mobile Marketing Forum, the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum and the Mobile Health and Digital Healthcare Forum, successfully targeted audiences with a special interest or specialization in the respective topic.

Transformation of the traditional industry in the mobile internet era creates a new economic engine

The Premium Brand Channel Vendor Cooperation Fair attracted many premium channel purchasers in China, including JD.com, GOME, Dangdang.com and D.Phone. The fair promoted the face-to-face negotiation model, allowing exhibitors to expand their sales channels both online and offline and furthering the sound development of the upstream and downstream industry chains of the mobile ecosystem. More than 200 negotiation meetings took place on the first day.

China's mobile internet market is experiencing explosive growth with billions of users. Macworld | iWorld Asia 2014 highlights the development of the mobile internet, revolutionizing the traditional industry and, in particular, providing many new insights and methods on how to improve the efficiency of the sector as a whole while exploring a new economic model. China's mobile internet industry is also growing steadily in size, making it a new economic engine.

SOURCE IDG EXPO