While the coronavirus has caused many trade shows to close or go virtual, Computex, Taiwan’s celebration of everything about the PC, had so far remained open—though rescheduled for September. Early Friday, that domino finally fell, too.
TAITRA, the Taiwan organization overseeing the Computex Taipei show, said Friday that Computex has been rescheduled to June 1-5, 2021. Although TAITRA announced a few online-only events, it doesn’t sound like the organization is shifting Computex to an online-only virtual show, like Microsoft Build or Apple’s upcoming Worldwide Developer Conference.
TAITRA originally delayed the showcase from its usual June to September, betting the coronavirus would have been managed by then. Taiwan itself acted quickly, implementing quarantine procedures, masking, and contact tracing, and limiting the impact to just 443 confirmed cases. But the organization also said that travel restrictions would limit the number of attendees, including international exhibitors, visitors and media, who “may not be able to join the show.�