THG Exclusive Report - VIA Testing The Waters On Computex Attendence

In a report from Michael DePrenda in our office in Taipei, at approximately 10:30AM VIA Technologies notified every company they have contact with to enlist their help in signing a petition to postpone Computex until a later date. (The Computex Trade show in Taipei scheduled for the first week of June.)

This show has become one of the most important shows in the worldwide IT industry. In a follow-up phone call to VIA, THG has confirmed that they did this at the behest of a group of motherboard companies that asked VIA to help them to organize this. Many companies in Taiwan have discovered that there will not be as many members of the international press or potential customers going to Taiwan this year out of fear of SARS. In calls by THG to several large companies in Taiwan, it has been confirmed that many of them will sign or are considering to sign the petition.

What follows is a translation of the petition which was in Chinese:

Computer companies all over the world are worried about the SARS situation in Asia and most of the foreign press and international buyers have announced that they won't be coming to the Computex 2003 Trade Show in Taipei in June, 2003. We are afraid that a lot of time and money that computer companies put into this will all be in vain.

Taipei is hot and humid in June, and all exhibitors and visitors will have to be in an enclosed space which is directly against the SARS prevention measures. It will also cause a negative image for Taiwan as well, if all of the exhibitors and visitors have to wear a mask during the show, which will also cause an inconvenience for sales promotion.

Therefore, we strongly suggested TCA and TWTC to postpone or cancel the Computex 2003. TCA and TWTC should have a meeting for all of exhibitors to discuss details.

Company: ___________________

Signature: ___________________

Tom's Hardware Guide will keep you informed of the latest developments as we find out about them.