Samsung cancels participation in physical IFA fair and holds its own digital event

Samsung has canceled its participation in the physical IFA electronics show in Berlin and will instead hold a digital event in early September. The IFA is the first major tech fair to be a physical event again since the coronavirus outbreak.

Samsung wants to return to IFA in the future, the manufacturer says in a statement to Techcrunch. The South Korean manufacturer will announce products at its own digital event that will take place sometime in early September. This could coincide with the physical IFA fair, which will be held in Berlin from September 3-5.

Samsung has been at IFA every year since 1991 and has often used the electronics fair for major announcements. In the past decade, the electronics maker announced the first Galaxy Note smartphone, the first Galaxy Gear watch and VR headset Gear VR at the fair. The manufacturer also often shows prototypes of new TVs on the exhibition floor.

The IFA fair in Berlin will continue, but will not be open to the public. Instead, there is room for a thousand guests, the organization said earlier.

Samsung Gear S watch at IFA 2014