Mainland Chinese technology vendors at this year’s Computer and Communications Festival are seeking to gain a market share in Hong Kong, amid the city’s potential shift from overseas products due to geopolitical factors.
But discounted products, such as power banks and computer monitors, were the bestsellers on Friday, the first day of the festival.
Many mainland vendors made their debut at the Belt and Road Software Pavilion this year, eagerly seeking opportunities to partner with Hong Kong clients and grow in the local market.
“We want to show that Chinese companies can set up databases and provide alternative products as good as other overseas competitors,” Hailey Long, who works for Beijing Vastdata Technology, said.
The data technology provider set up a business in Hong Kong six months ago and had sealed a deal with a local hospital. Long said the firm was looking for more clients from government departments at the festival.
Katrin Kung, sales manager at ELM Computer Technologies Limited, said more communication between the Hong Kong market and mainland providers was needed.
“The Hong Kong entities used to rely on foreign brands for technology support and know very little about what those mainland companies can provide,” said Kung, whose company aimed to provide an integrated platform to link both the Hong Kong market and mainland companies.
“But now they started to look for alternatives as there might be future risks like trade war and security concerns.”
Outside the Belt and Road Software Pavilion, visitors lined up for discounted products, such as computers, adaptors and televisions.
More than 30 people queued in front of the Ego booth in the first 30 minutes to get their hands on discounted power banks.
People also gathered at Unitree, another popular booth, to watch two robot dogs fight each other. A small Unitree Go2 robot dog waved at the crowd and gave greetings, attracting many people to interact and take photos with it.
The four-day fair kicked off on Friday at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. It was poised to break records with 300 exhibitors this year.
The Belt and Road Software Pavilion attracted 120 software companies, most of which were from the mainland.
For the first time, organisers were offering a limited number of tickets to mainland visitors through Alipay for HK$1 (13 US cents) from Wednesday to Sunday.
Visitors were mainly local residents and not many mainland tourists were seen on Friday morning.
“This year the expo is not as crowded as before,” said Alan Ip, a freelance photographer in his late 30s who just bought a printer.
“The price is slightly cheaper than other stores. I happened to need a printer so I bought it. Apart from that, I don’t have a particular shopping list in mind.”
College graduate Alex Chin, 23, also agreed that fewer people attended this year’s fair than the last time he visited.
Chin, who said he was interested in gaming products, bought a massager instead.
“I tried it on and it was so comfortable that I couldn’t stop using it,” said Chin, who spent more money this year thanks to his part-time job.
Several people queued up to try racing simulators and shooting machines.
Vijay Kumar, 55, said he prepared a target list of models every year before the exhibition.
This year, he said he was looking for small personal computers for his office and home.
“The advantage of this type of festival is that you can find all brands at the same time and their latest models on display,” Kumar, who works in the content industry, said.
“I come here every year and ask for the vendors’ contacts. So next time when I need new products I know where to go.”
A technology fan himself, Kumar expressed his excitement to see new sections of artificial intelligence this year.
“I like to be educated a bit by talking to those companies. But it seems the new sections are relatively quiet. People are more excited about buying the small cheap stuff on the other side,” he said.
