more important than anything, CES is an opportunity to plant a flag. The major trade show for consumer electronics is strategically positioned during the first week of the year. All Holiday Technology products purchased, opened, used or returned. This is all a distant memory for tech companies hoping to assert themselves as leading innovators in the coming year.
CES is a grand exhibition. The 2020 show, which ended before pandemic-related closures, attracted 171,000 attendees, according to show organizer the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). For obvious reasons, the show’s viewership declined over the next few years, but by 2023, the show had reached 115,000 viewers.
CES’s influence has waxed and waned over the years. Before the pandemic, some of the event’s biggest exhibitors chose to follow Apple’s lead and keep the most important announcements to their own events. This strategy has solidified for many in recent years as companies have been forced to launch virtual events. After all, why break the news during the noisiest week of the year if you can generate enough interest for your own independent event?
Perhaps surprisingly, the shift has been a boon to the event in one key way: It has opened the show up to new startups. If you own a smaller, newer company, a show like this is an opportunity to put yourself in front of the largest journalists, distributors, manufacturers, etc. in consumer electronics. As any startup that’s pitched to me can probably tell you, it’s hard to stand out among the hundreds of emails I receive every day (the same goes for LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, but please don’t).
LAS VEGAS, NV – JANUARY 5: CES, the world’s largest annual consumer technology trade show, will open to visitors at the Las Vegas Convention Center on January 5, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Open the door. (Photo: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
This is an opportunity to share a physical space with the people you are marketing to. This is especially valuable for hardware startups because they can demonstrate their products in person. Most of these companies are located in Eureka Park (née Sands) at the Venice Expo. This is the best part of the show. It’s the most hilarious, fun and chaotic. I suspect most of the people TechCrunch sent out would have preferred to stay there for a week. Unfortunately, I have serious back problems now, so my time there is very limited.
However, I have signed up for a series of suite sessions—that is, hotel room sessions at places like the Venetian. These companies usually do not have floor exhibitions. This may be due to a lack of resources, or because they are demonstrating some technology that is not yet ready to be shown to the public.
Often because of the latter, these briefings turn out to be some of the most interesting at the event. They’re out of the way, so you don’t want to pile them on too much, but it’s nice to have some meetings away from the chaotic hustle and bustle of the showroom.
Despite the ongoing health concerns mentioned above, I’m actually looking forward to this CES. This is definitely something I can’t say every year. But my optimism has two sides. First, I believe we are entering a fascinating moment in consumer hardware. Supply chain issues (and international relations) have many people rethinking how and where they manufacture. The shift to a more decentralized manufacturing landscape could change the industry in exciting ways. Second, and relatedly, we recently launched a CES startup pitch event, and I’ve been impressed by the diversity and quality of the response so far. I’m currently combing through a list of over 200 startups.
The event is still about a week and a half away, but interesting trends are already starting to emerge. The first one should be obvious to anyone who follows the industry: generative artificial intelligence. For over a decade, artificial intelligence has become an industry buzzword, to the point where it has lost virtually all meaning in product pitches. Things only get worse from here.
Image Source: Brian Hitt
Understandably, the proliferation of LL.M.s has captured the popular imagination. After a lifetime of hearing about artificial intelligence, ordinary people can now enter text prompts into dialog boxes and instantly receive images, videos, short stories, or songs. Last month, Humane provided current standards for leveraging systems like ChatGPT to meet consumer needs. No matter what you think of this company or its products, there’s a reason why it’s so hyped.
Most importantly, 2024 will be the year of generative AI for hardware products. Some of them are truly impressive – I expect there will be some amazing GenAI breakthroughs leveraging robotics in the coming year. However, most of it is marketing bullshit. As journalists, our job is to determine which is which.
Speaking of robot technology (As I often do), CES has been involved in these areas for several years. Of course, the vast majority of eligible products in the event are actually Roomba derivatives. Nothing against the world’s robot vacuum cleaners, but it’s not the breakthrough we were promised.
Image Source: Amazon
I expect more companies will gravitate towards the automated processes they use on the backend. Partnerships will be a big thing — announcements involving pilots of different robotic systems, like Agility’s Digit or Boston Dynamics’ Stretch. Who wouldn’t want to display a robot in their booth?
television will remain a major focus.Over the past few years, LG has made strategic decisions to release its biggest products First Consumer Electronics Show. So why not? Late December/early January is a painfully slow time of year. So far, the company has launched a 98-inch (!) QNED LED gaming monitor with a refresh rate of 480Hz (!!).
Kirsten can attest that an important part of CES’s growth over the past few years has been its positioning as a major show. car show. The move makes sense given the way technology and the auto industry are intertwined. Last year, the Las Vegas Convention Center’s shiny new West Hall was dedicated entirely to mobility.
Automakers typically make a splash at the event, including the likes of Toyota and Hyundai, which own TRI and Boston Dynamics respectively. Honda has announced that it will showcase its new electric vehicle at the event.
Image Source: sony
In recent years, large smartphone Making announcements is nearly impossible at CES. Major vendors are either pivoting to their own events again or gearing up for Mobile World Congress in late February/early March.
health technology will still be a big piece of the puzzle. We’re talking sleep tracking, blood sugar monitoring, blood pressure – features that until recently were classified as professional medical devices. Apple’s absence will again be widely noticed, although Apple’s ongoing patent dispute with Masimo will cast a huge shadow on the event this year. Depending on how things develop, wearable devices The market is likely to look very different in the coming year.
Speaking of apples, Augmented reality/virtual reality This was the highlight of my event last year, where I tried out new headphones from Meta, HTC, Sony, and Magic Leap. The Vision Pro will likely be available in the next month or two, and all eyes will be on mixed reality.
Never one to shy away from the spotlight, Nvidia appears to be gearing up for some big launches. Of course, artificial intelligence will be central. The company is rumored to launch the RTX 4070 Super and RTX 4080 Super GPUs at the event.
These run January 9-12 In Las Vegas.Big media day starts two days ago 7th. Bookmark our CES 2024 page for the latest news.
