After spending 5 long days at GITEX, I am finally able to blog about it now. It sure was tiring. And as expected, it was overall a slow event and left me wondering why it was a 5-day event when three days would have been more than enough.
This year, GITEX was divided into two main sections, the IT section, where “real” IT companies got a chance to exhibit their products, and consumer electronics section, where the likes of Samsung and Panasonic exhibited their big-ass TVs and miniature gadgets. You can very well guess which section was deserted and which was crowded most of the time.
I was in the “boring” section. Like I said in the previous post about GITEX, most companies participate in the GITEX because it has become a status symbol in the region. All good organizations participate in GITEX so if you want your company to be considered among such organizations then you must participate as well. The actual number of leads and opportunities generated through GITEX are not enough to cover the cost of participating. Of course, this may vary for different companies but I found this true for my company and many other companies where I have contacts.
There was also a sub-event called GITEX Shopper. This was like a shopping festival for consumer electronics. The general public was of course attracted to this. I didn’t get a chance to visit it but I heard you could get some real deals on digital cameras and laptop computers.
So the only good thing about GITEX this year was that they had separated the consumer electronics section which made clear what percentage of visitors were genuinely interested in IT.
Well Umar, you could buy the same stuff outside for the same price as you would get in gitex shopper. towards the end, because the companies want to get rid of their stock, you can get good deals. but as i found out, you have to be careful and should research the market before going to gitex. i bought a external hard drive which i thought was a good deal. when later i found you could get the same thing from sharaf DG at dhs 50 less than wat i bought for.
Khurram » I agree with you. Same is the case with most shopping events in Dubai. If something is on sale it doesn’t mean it’s cheaper than when it was not on sale. Make sure to do your research before buying anything.