Computex 2020 is postponed until September

Computex 2020 has been postponed until the end of September due to concerns in Taiwan over the Coronavirus. 

It's the latest in a string of postponements and cancellations due to the global pandemic, and one that's been encouraged by other parties for a while now. Originally scheduled for June, Computex will now be held between September 28th and September 30th. Notably, that makes the event only three days long rather than the usual five day show. 

It's also set to have a smaller amount of space as the event will be sharing the hall space at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Centre with Innovex, a startup-focused show that partners up with Computex each year. Innovex normally happens on the last couple of days of Computex but with the shortened conference, they'll both have to share the limelight this time round. 

Reports suggest that due to the postponement, some companies plan on hosting online events in June instead due to having planned product lifecycles around it already. These rumours seem reasonably likely given some big players were fairly quiet at CES 2020 earlier this year, and we're still waiting to find out more about things like Nvidia's Ampere graphics cards, given conferences keep on being delayed. 

For now though, no specific names have been cited but we're guessing that's due to the fast moving state of the world right now meaning it's tough to make any long term plans. This may also be why the re-scheduled Computex is shorter - lower demand from exhibitors is fairly likely, whatever happens.

It's not the first time that Computex has been postponed. That was back in 2003 due to the SARS outbreak when the event was also moved to September, but it's still a big deal to see this announcement. Computex is one of the biggest IT trade shows out there and typically the best when it comes to seeing a wide variety of new PC products. Notably though, this isn't really the time for bringing together the masses from around the world, so it makes perfect sense to hold on.

Given we don't yet know when the pandemic will be under control, some pessimists may be concerned that September is still too early for such a large mass gathering of people from around the world, but we'll have to wait and see how things play out.