Profile

Aligned.
With Consumer & Home Electronics

GFU connects the players in a dynamic industry. With market data, its own formats, and as the brand owner of IFA as the industry’s global meeting place

About GFU

Over 50 Years of Industry Development

Eleven leading consumer electronics companies founded GFU in 1973. The company’s name was also its mission: Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Unterhaltungselektronik (Society for the Promotion of Consumer Electronics). Today, companies from the home appliances sector are also shareholders of GFU. This development reflects the evolution of IFA as the industry’s leading trade fair and the convergence of the industry amid changes in the sector, and is also expressed in the company’s current name: GFU Consumer & Home Electronics GmbH.

Today, GFU stands for the industry organization for consumer electronics and home appliances in Germany. Its shareholders are the leading brands from both worlds. Its mission: to connect the industry, capture its trends and developments, and make them visible. As the brand owner of IFA, it also provides the industry with a global platform.

  • We Connect

    We Connect

    Bringing the industry together is our mission. In forums small enough for genuine exchange and large enough for real impact. Whether in confidential discussion groups, on industry panels, or in dialogue with the trade press: we create spaces where the industry talks with one another, not about one another.

  • We Analyze

    We Analyze

    Together with market research institutes such as NIQ and leading management consultancies, we track how the Home & Consumer Electronics market is developing. We actively share the results with all market participants: from the trade press and retailers to policymakers. With our own reports and market analyses, we provide the reliable figures the industry uses as a benchmark. Dependable, independent, quotable.

  • We Drive Change.

    We Drive Change.

    With Insights & Trends, our studies, and market observations, we set the agenda each year for the topics that are emerging. And as the brand owner of IFA, we proudly stand behind one of the highlights of the industry year. Since 2023, IFA Berlin has been organized by IFA Management GmbH, a joint venture between Clarion Events and GFU, Home of IFA.

History of GFU
Carine Chardon

Carine Chardon Managing Director of GFU

»As an industry organization, GFU is a company with an idealistic orientation. This special form is what sets us apart. Our strength emerges where industry, strategy, and day-to-day networking come together.«

Aufsichtsrat der GFU bestehend aus Enrico Hoffmann, Christian Gerwens und Ulf Schreurs
Supervisory Board
Team der GFU bestehend aus Carine Chardon, Marie-Charlotte von Heyking, Jennifer Drechsler und Christian Keul
Team

Perspectives

Three Perspectives. One Body of Knowledge.

GFU draws its strength from bringing together different perspectives. Our shareholders contribute the day-to-day knowledge of the industry: they know the markets because they shape them. The Supervisory Board consists of individuals in senior positions within the industry and ensures strategic clarity. And our team brings years of industry experience, deep insight into trends and technologies, as well as the know-how.

Shareholders