IFA 2026 officially begins on September 4 and Europe’s most prestigious technology show kicked off early on Tuesday with its traditional opening ceremony. In its 102nd edition, this year’s Innovation for All conference highlights the future of technology available today; which focuses on AI, robotics, smart home technology and sustainable solutions. While the 2025 edition was marked by trade disruptions, inflation and slowing global growth, this new edition faces additional challenges: the lingering memory crisis that has driven up technology prices, ongoing tensions between the United States and China and the US war against Iran.
For this year’s show, the IFA says it expects 220,000 visitors from September 4 to 8, with 2,000 exhibitors across 190,000 square meters. With most visitors under the age of 35, IFA CEO Leif Lindner says the show is where the next generation meets the next technology. “The IFA matters more than ever. Unlike the radio and television revolutions, it won’t take decades for AI and robotics to catch up. We need to understand what these technologies mean for us, because trust cannot be downloaded. Trust is built through experimentation, and that’s what’s happening in Berlin.”
Lindner also mentioned how AI has advanced technology in healthcare, education and research. While emphasizing the importance of American AI companies, he also mentioned the importance of Chinese companies, which have become a central part of past shows.
Wearables 2.0, robotics and AI are the expected highlights of the IFA
Alongside the CEO of IFA, the Managing Director of GFU Consumer Tech (owner of the IFA brand), Carine Chardon, also participated in the opening ceremony to discuss some of the trends from the first half of the year and what users can expect at the show. According to Chardon, the technology that companies are most focused on is the second wave of wearables; including smart glasses and robotics (and the controversy associated with it), with companies like Unitree and Agibot leading the way. So does AI, with US and Chinese organizations creating innovations every two months, and over $2.5 trillion spent on AI in 2026.
According to Chardon, several forces are reshaping the industry; including Chinese brands going global, the impacts of currency fluctuations with a weakening US dollar, the Middle East conflict disrupting supply routes and the lasting memory crisis. With memory prices making products more expensive, she notes that the global market has recovered from the pandemic. Excluding North America and Russia from the figures shows continued growth in sales globally.
This is an interesting time as consumers continue to make rational decisions, focusing on the premium market and innovative products. For the CEO of IFA, these markets represent more opportunities. “There’s a new hardware super cycle with completely new devices coming. People can experience these technologies first-hand at the trade show and understand what’s in store for them.”
Here’s what we expect from IFA 2026
While well-known brands will be at the show in the coming days, including Samsung, LG, Sony, Roborock, Anker, etc., the show will provide a new opportunity for consumers to come face to face with even more humanoid robots. For example, IFA 2026 will feature a RoboCup, where companies can showcase some of the new capabilities their products have acquired. Interestingly enough, this comes after the just-held Robotics Olympics in China; offering a wide variety of memes of robots malfunctioning and dying, but also how these technologies have evolved so quickly.
According to the IFA CEO, this year’s show introduces “technology into culture,” and BGR expects to see even more from smart glasses brands like Rokid and L’Attitude, new smart home projectors with XGIMI, and several accessories from popular brands including Anker, Moft, Nomad, Satechi, and more.
IFA officially kicks off this Thursday, but the opening ceremony already hints at a big event focused on tomorrow’s technology coming early with new AI hardware, improved protocols and a focus on innovation with sustainability in mind. One clue, for example, comes from a recent interview BGR conducted with Bluetooth SIG, the organization behind the Bluetooth protocol, highlighting the big changes coming for billions of Bluetooth devices in 2027.
