Giant ISLE LED Show Opens Tomorrow In Shenzhen; 1,000+ Vendors, 200K Attendees

March 6, 2025 by Dave Haynes

The actual numbers are are not at all clear, but what’s certain is that one whole hell of a lot of people will be fighting their way through the exhibition hall corridors of ISLE 2025, the giant LED display manufacturing show that starts a three-day run in Shenzen, China tomorrow.

One description:

Over 1,800 exhibitors present their latest products and innovations across 120,000 square meters at Shenzhen World Exhibition & Convention Center. As a platform focused on driving business and customer experience into the future, ISLE attracts more than 230,000 attendees from 50+ countries and regions to network and discover the latest about the trends and technologies shaping the future of the industry.

But in PR for the 2025 event:

ISLE 2025 will host more than 1,000 online and live exhibitors across an 80,000 square meter exhibition area. And expectations of 200,000 people.

Online exhibitors at a live show???

For context, ISE was 1,605 exhibitors and had an exhibitor footprint of 92,000 square meters. There were 186,000 duplicated visits (the same people coming multiple days) and a little more than 85,000 unique visitors. I suspect the ISLE headcount is a duplicated number.

So the shows are fairly similar in sheer size, the big difference being ISLE is almost all about LED displays, whereas there are entire halls at ISE focused on things like audio and unified communications.

I am definitely not going this year – cost and time to get there the biggest factors. Plus I’m note sure my China visa is still valid.

Maybe next year, as it would be something to see. And the level of BS would be breathtaking, given how the Chinese industry rolls and the sheer number of competing domestic manufacturers.

However, I think the only way that’s workable for a westerner is having an interpreter along who, ideally, understands tech. The frustrations I have trying to get answers from Chinese vendors  at ISE and InfoComm would be 500-fold worse in Shenzhen. I think they should send people who speak English to dominant English-speaking shows, but a show in China is going to be 99% Mandarin and language hurdle would be my issue, not theirs.