Our last day at CeBIT was something we expected a lot from. With several interviews planned and a tight schedule we went to the fair. After a few minutes we notice an empty stand from a Taiwanese company. Their promo team was gone, the brochure box was empty and their logo was out of sight. What happend and why would someone pay for an expensive stand at CeBIT and then leave an empty box? The company was robbed while we were having our drinks at Kaspersky the night before. All their products, like MP3 players, were taken and nothing was left for day three.

We searched the area for a reaction, but we couldn't find a stressed manager and went on with our day. Samsung's marketing manager for optical media solutions in Europe was the first on our list. He, Vincent van der Laan, agreed to answer a question concerning Blu-ray's win and HD DVD's loss. Van der Laan told us why he thinks Toshiba threw in towel. 'Toshiba is a company that knows the market, because they constantly check the latest trends and consumer needs.' After this Van der Laan told us that these market trends are basically the reason why they are with Blu-ray. After Warner's decision many retailers followed and selling HD DVD products was basically not doable.

While I followed my way from Samsung's stand to TrekStor's entertainment hall I came by BENQ's fluffy animals. Definitely different since these promo people aren't beautiful girls, but fat men in a purple outfit... At TrekStor I checked their newest MP3 players and did some dancing on their beats. On the far left of TrekStor's stand their was a joint promotion from Nintendo and Epson. Many played the Japanese Wii, while the screening was done by Epson's projectors. People looked happy, but the whole 'vibe' changed when some stopped in front of the projector. A few shouted in German and others waved with their Wii remote, which is something you shouldn't do. ;)

CeBIT 2008 is a green event, and everywhere you see slogans like 'IT works green'. With the promos and slogans definitely being green, some think this isn't enough... Greenpeace campaigner Yannick Vicaire said that manufacturers still have a long way to go. The organization mainly targets at the fact that CeBIT talks green, but many of its exhibitors don't sell green products. Greenpeace tested 37 products from 14 major electronics brands and awarded them points. Even the winner wasn't green enough, since Sony's Vaio only got half of the available points and still won the 'award'.

With CeBIT's greening campaign not being a success we are curious what the marketplace will come up with in 2009. Maybe they should look at Germany's road system, since we drove away in to the dark without any lights next to the road...