Despite overcast skies and heavy rain, thousands of people flocked to the Las Vegas Convention Center on Thursday morning for the first day of CES, showcasing hundreds of new gadgets and technologies.
It was also the first time that the annual technology trade show, formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, approached pre-pandemic levels. The Consumer Technology Association said about 100,000 attendees are expected for this year’s show. That’s more than double his attendance at CES 2022, though still short of the estimated 180,000 visitors who arrived at the 2019 event.
CTA vice president and acting CES show director John Kelly said CES 2022 was significantly scaled back due to COVID-19 concerns, going largely virtual and shortening the event from a four-day show to a three-day show. said.
Kelly said this year’s show is about 70% the size of its pre-pandemic version. Kelly said CES will take up more than 2.1 million square feet of space across his eight venues on the Strip, including the convention center, with more than 3,200 exhibitors.
This year’s iteration is a hybrid event with several keynotes and panel sessions available on live stream, but a quick glance at the convention center’s exhibit floor seems to indicate that most attendees have opted for the in-person experience. I can see it. However, some visitors, like David DeWitt, felt the show still had room to expand, noting that audiences appeared to be smaller than in pre-pandemic years.
Honda engineer Dewitt was attending CES for the fifth time, but his first visit since the pandemic.
“I look smaller now,” he said. “Westgate he pavilion used to be full, but not now.”
Still, DeWitt described the show as “underwhelming” and something that takes days to get it right.He attends CES alongside seven other Honda employees.
“Sensory experience”
Kelley said CES 2022 was focused on promoting virtual attendance options, but this year is a little different.
“CES is a sensory experience,” he said. “It’s something you can’t reproduce in a virtual environment. You must see the product. You have to test the product.”
There was no shortage of innovative products and dazzling displays, including a floor-to-ceiling ‘holographic human’ by Hypervsn that captivated attendees, and a myriad of virtual reality displays that transported visitors into the metaverse and autonomous robots.
First-timers, like Michael Murray, sales engineer at Tennessee-based Smart Systems, which sells smart home systems like touchpads and home theaters, were impressed by the scale of the show.
He described the show as “massive” and an opportunity for Smart Systems to jump on notable products and suppliers.
“We wanted to go beyond the consumer goods industry to get a feel for new products,” Murray said. “All the products that will be sold next year will debut here.”
By holding the show right after the holiday season, Kelley said, CES will have a reputation for outlining technology developments for the coming year.
“I think the beginning of the year will help set the tone for what the tech industry could look like this year,” he said.
gain global exposure
Several exhibitors said CES is an opportunity to showcase and grow their brands to the world.
According to Kelly, CES is purposefully trying to be the world’s first tech event, with a third of the 100,000 attendees coming from outside the United States.
“People come here from all over the world. They’re all looking for new ideas to see what’s next in technology,” says Kelley.
Conor Moloney works as an IT manager at Rayn Technologies, a security technology company, and traveled from Limerick, Ireland to attend CES for the first time.
“They sent me here to see what security stuff we could use,” Molony said. “I’m just trying to absorb everything.”
According to Ugreen’s creative marketing manager Frederick Rollins, the Chinese company Ugreen attended CES to establish its presence in the West. Based in Shenzhen, China, near Hong Kong, the company manufactures products such as charging cables and portable 1,200-watt power stations.
“We are trying to get as much media exposure as possible to grow the brand and reach more customers,” Rollins said.
This will be an important move for most tech companies this year. Especially in the US, more and more tech companies are announcing layoffs. Most recently, Salesforce announced it was laying off 8,000 people this week. This equates to his 10% of employees. Even the CTA, despite Tuesday’s report noting that consumer tech industry revenues will remain about $50 billion above pre-pandemic levels, warns that “a looming recession and inflation are likely to continue over the next year.” We expect this to weigh on consumer spending across the board.”
Future of CES
Getting the attention of attendees and the media can be difficult, said Justin Lee, chief brand officer at South Korean company Arbeon. The company is launching an augmented reality-powered social media app that allows users to take pictures of objects and interact with others through 3D characters and shopping features.
“There are so many people here that it’s hard to get involved,” Lee said.
But even with the dazzling display, the 2023 show wasn’t the same for Maxwell Hinson, lead technical marketing engineer at Green Hill Software, whose company was exhibiting at the show. Hinson said he’s been to CES eight times, including this year, and that he attends CES to help security software companies connect with customers and see what their competitors are doing. increase.
He said this year’s event isn’t on the same scale as the show pre-pandemic, but he’s grateful that it’s finally gaining momentum.
“It’s a great show. “Hopefully in the future it will grow and return to its original state.”
Please contact Sean Hemmersmeier at Shemmersmeier@reviewjournal.com.follow @seanhemmers34 on Twitter.
