Update (5/19/20 @ 5:00 PM ET): IFA 2020 will still happen as a scaled-down invite-only event in Berlin this September.

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has infected over 2 million people worldwide and has brought many countries to a complete standstill. The pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on industries globally, with several companies in the technology sector being forced to delay launches indefinitely and cancel all live events, including major tech events like MWC 2020 and Google I/O 2020. Despite constant efforts from industry leaders and governments worldwide to address the situation, it doesn't seem like the effects of the pandemic are going to wear off anytime soon. In a recent string of tweets from the official IFA Berlin Twitter handle, the event organizers have revealed that the upcoming IFA 2020 event will also be impacted by the pandemic.

The IFA 2020 event in Berlin, which was scheduled from September 4-9, will not be going ahead as planned "following the decision by the Berlin government to ban all events with more than 5,000 participants until 24th October 2020." In a statement on the matter, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of gfu Consumer and Home Electronics, Hans-Joachin Kamp, explained, "We expected this development given the constantly evolving pandemic and appreciate that we have now a clear regulatory framework that enables us, our partner Messe Berlin, and our exhibitors to make detailed plans for IFA 2020." The event organizers are currently discussing a range of alternative concepts to take the event forward and will be presenting an updated concept for IFA 2020 in the near future. We will update this post as and when we receive more details from the organizers. As of now, we aren't sure if the IFA restructuring will have any effect on the planned announcements.


Update: Still Happening

While events across the globe are still being canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IFA organizers have announced the show is still happening. The event will look much different this year as it will be great scaled back. IFA 2020 will be closed to the public and invite-only. The conference will be broken into four smaller events, each with no more than 1,000 attendees. Organizers will also be implementing "social distancing, careful crowd control and other effective public hygiene measures." There will also be a number of digital events for those who will not be in attendance. IFA 2020 could be a big measuring stick for slowly opening up more tech events in the future.