IFA REVIEW
August/September 2026
housewareslive.net
of years, you certainly made up for lost time at this year’s show. And for the brands that had already spent plenty of time talking about AI, the message had moved on. It was no longer enough to simply say a product was ‘AI-powered’. The focus was increasingly on what that technology actually does: how it makes an appliance easier to use, takes some of the hassle out of everyday tasks or genuinely improves the experience for the person who buys it.
The future of Housewares! A
From AI that actually makes a difference to new products, emerging categories and a few surprises along the way, IFA 2026 offered plenty for the electrical retail industry to get excited about. Housewares Magazine Editor Will McGill reports from Berlin.
s you can probably imagine, AI was everywhere at IFA Berlin this year. But in 2026, the conversation felt noticeably different. If you hadn’t jumped aboard the AI train over the past couple
That shift was evident across Messe Berlin, which once again became the global meeting point for the consumer electronics and home appliance industries. Around 240,000 people attended IFA 2026, up nine per cent on last year, with more than 2,000 exhibitors filling 190,000 square metres of exhibition space. Visitors travelled from 155 countries, while 67 per cent of trade
visitors came from outside Germany, underlining the international pull IFA continues to have. Innovation wasn’t confined to the big names either. Around 300 start- ups appeared at IFA Next, more than 530 submissions were made for the IFA Innovation Awards and over 350 speakers took part in 150-plus sessions across the show. The numbers tell you just how big IFA remains. But walking the halls this year, the more interesting story was how the industry itself is changing – and where some of the biggest brands could be heading next.
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