TAITRA, organizers of Computex, the year's biggest PC industry-related tech expo that highlights Taiwan's vibrant computer hardware and consumer electronics industries, announced that they have formally cancelled the 2020 edition of Computex. Originally slated for June as almost every edition prior, Computex 2020 was hit hard by the COVID-19 global pandemic that caused exhibitors to pull out. TAITRA scrambled to postpone the 2020 edition to September, a move that apparently didn't do enough to bring back exhibitors. With the COVID-19 crisis showing no signs of waning by September, TAITRA did the only thing it could: can the 2020 edition. The company did put up a brave face and hoped that the 2021 edition will go ahead as planned, scheduled for June 1-5, 2021. One of our industry partners shared with us a copy of the email TAITRA sent to its exhibitors.The TAITRA press-release follows.

COMPUTEX is Rescheduled to 2021

The outbreak of pandemic COVID-19 has disturbed all major economic sectors of the whole world. Many countries have imposed travel restrictions to help curb the spread of COVID-19. COMPUTEX stakeholders, including international exhibitors, visitors and media, may not be able to join the show consequently. Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and Taipei Computer Association (TCA), the organizers of COMPUTEX, therefore decided to reschedule COMPUTEX to 2021.

As of June 11, more than 7,350,000 people have been diagnosed across 187 countries worldwide, affecting the economy, trade, transportation, convention and tourism. With credit to Taiwan's government got a head start on smashing the virus, Taiwan has only 443 confirmed cases. Accordingly, how Taiwan makes efforts against COVID-19 has been reported by a lot of international medias, such as CNN, Bloomberg and so on.

COMPUTEX, as a leading global ICT exhibition, where leaders of world-renowned tech enterprises shared industry insights, hosted 1,685 exhibitors from 30 countries and attracted 42,495 visitors from 171 countries in its 2019 edition. COMPUTEX 2021 will take place from June 1 to 5 to continue its commitment of building global technology ecosystems.

To keep the tech industry connected with COMPUTEX, TAITRA is launching a series of online services.

• #COMPUTEXOnlineTalks - Key executives from Intel, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, Supermicro, Delta Electronics, BenQ Business Solutions Alliance shared the latest tech trends on AI and 5G and discuss for the future technology at the first-ever COMPUTEX virtual event. After its debut on June 2, the livestream was watched by over 400,000 viewers.
• COMPUTEX Online Sourcing Meetings - 30 VIP buyers from 14 counties seized new business opportunities with Taiwanese suppliers on June 3.
• #InnoVEXOnlineDemo - Startups will showcase their new products and technologies via Taiwan Trade Show's YouTube channel on June 29.
• COMPUTEX Online 2D Exhibition. - The new online platform will be launched on September 28 to display and promote exhibitors' products and services.

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 seeing you in COMPUTEX 2021 and drive the resilience in the global ICT ecosystem together.