Fujifilm has joined Leica, Nikon and Olympus in declaring it will not participate in Photokina 2020, which opens on 27 May.
A statement from the company says: After considering exhibiting from an overall perspective, including the launch timing of several exciting new products next year, our sales promotion plans, and cost effectiveness, we have decided not to take part in photokina 2020. We will continue to engage with our customers through other avenues including hands-on, interactive events, increasing opportunities to demonstrate the outstanding value and capability of our products and services directly to users, and strengthening the digital presence of our products. The number one priority for Fujifilm is and always will be our customers, and we will continue to make decisions based on the best ways to engage with our community.
This is not really surprising since industry trade fairs (in contrast to entertainment fairs) have been getting smaller every year. Virtually every industry has seen their return on investment from such events decline as more online product information and interactive video demonstrations become the norm. Photographic companies, in particular, have developed a strong presence on social media, aided by media like Photo Review. Disseminating product information in this way is more cost effective and allows faster responses to market trends.
Canon, Panasonic and Sony are the only majors to have committed to attend, along with smaller manufacturers of specialist products like 3 Legged Thing (tripods), BenQ (monitors), Canson (paper), ChromaLuxe (paper), DJI (drones), Eizo (monitors), Epson, Gitzo (tripods), GoPro, Hasselblad, Laowa (lenses), Lexar, Marumi (filters), Nissin (flashguns), ProFoto (lighting), Røde (microphones), Samyang (lenses) , Sigma and Tamron (lenses).
