Greater than something, CES is an opportunity to plant a flag. Client electronics’ huge commerce present is strategically positioned inside the first week of the yr. All the vacation tech has been bought, opened and used or returned. It’s all a distant reminiscence for tech firms trying to assert themselves as main innovators for the approaching yr.
CES is an enormous present. The 2020 present, which made it slightly below the wire forward of pandemic-related closures, performed host to 171,000 attendees, in response to present organizer, the Client Know-how Affiliation (CTA). For apparent causes, the figures dwindled in coming years, however 2023 discovered the present hitting a good 115,000.
Through the years, CES’s affect has waxed and waned. Previous to the pandemic, a number of the occasion’s largest exhibitors opted to comply with Apple’s lead, saving the most important bulletins for their very own occasions. As firms had been pressured to launch digital occasions in recent times, that technique solidified for a lot of. In spite of everything, if you happen to can entice sufficient curiosity to your personal standalone occasions, why trouble releasing information in the course of the noisiest week of the yr?
Maybe surprisingly, that shift has been a blessing for the occasion in a single key manner: It has opened the present as much as startups. In case you have a smaller, newer firm, exhibits like this are a possibility to get your self in entrance of the most important journalists, distributors, producers, et al. in client electronics. As any startup who has pitched me will in all probability let you know, it’s arduous to face out in amongst the tons of of emails I obtain each day (LinkedIn, Twitter and Fb, too — however please don’t do that).
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JANUARY 5: CES, the world’s largest annual client know-how commerce present opens its door to guests on January 5, 2022 on the Las Vegas Conference Heart in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. (Picture by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Company by way of Getty Photos)
It’s a possibility to share a bodily house with the particular person you’re pitching. That is particularly worthwhile for {hardware} startups, who can current their product in particular person. Most of those firms discover themselves at Eureka Park within the Venetian Expo (née Sands). That is the very best a part of the present. It’s probably the most energetic, attention-grabbing and chaotic. I think a lot of the workers TechCrunch is sending would favor to spend all week there. Sadly, I’ve a significant again drawback for the time being, so my time there will probably be minimal.
I’ve, nevertheless, already signed up for a bunch of suite conferences — that’s to say, lodge room conferences in locations just like the Venetian. These are usually firms that don’t have a ground exhibit. This may very well be because of a scarcity of assets or as a result of they’re displaying off some piece of know-how that isn’t prepared for the general public eye.
Typically due to the latter these are probably the most attention-grabbing briefings on the occasion. They’re out of the best way, so that you don’t need to stack up too many of those, however it’s good to have some conferences away from the chaotic din of the present ground.
Regardless of the aforementioned ongoing well being points, I’m truly type of wanting ahead to this CES. That is completely one thing I can’t say yearly. However my optimism is two-fold. First, I consider we’re heading into an enchanting second for client {hardware}. Provide chain points (and worldwide relations) have precipitated many to rethink how — and the place — they manufacture. A transfer towards a extra decentralized manufacturing panorama may rework the business in thrilling methods. Second — and relatedly — we not too long ago put out a name for CES startup pitches, and so far I’ve been impressed with each the range and high quality of the responses. I’m presently combing by way of a listing of greater than 200 startups.
We’re nonetheless a few week and a half out from the occasion, however attention-grabbing developments are starting to emerge. The primary must be apparent to anybody who follows the business: generative AI. For greater than a decade, AI has turn out to be an business buzzword to the purpose of successfully shedding all that means in product pitches. Issues are solely going to worsen from right here.
Picture Credit: Brian Heater
The explosion of LLMs has — understandably — captured the general public’s creativeness. After listening to about synthetic intelligence their complete life, common folks can now kind a textual content immediate in a dialogue field and immediately get a picture, video, brief story or music. Last month, Humane offered the present customary for leveraging programs like ChatGPT for a client type issue. No matter you consider the corporate or its product, there’s a motive it’s been so hyped.
Greater than something, 2024 goes to be the yr of generative AI claims for {hardware} merchandise. Some will probably be genuinely spectacular — I anticipate some superb GenAI-leveraging robotics breakthroughs over the approaching yr. Invariably, nevertheless, most of will probably be advertising bullshit. It’s our job as reporters to find out which is which.
Talking of robotics (as I typically am), CES has been dipping its toes in these waters for a number of years now. In fact, the overwhelming majority of merchandise on the occasion that qualify are successfully Roomba derivatives. Nothing towards the robotic vacuums of the world, however these aren’t the breakthroughs we’ve been promised.
Picture Credit: Amazon
I anticipate extra firms will probably be leaning into the automated processes they make the most of on the again finish. Partnerships are going to be an enormous factor — bulletins involving the piloting of various robotics programs like Agility’s Digit or Boston Dynamics’ Stretch. Who doesn’t need to showcase a robotic of their sales space?
TV will proceed to be a significant focus. Over the previous a number of years, LG has made the strategic choice to announce its largest merchandise forward of CES. And why not? Late December/early January is a painfully gradual time of yr. To date, the corporate has launched a 98-inch (!) QNED LED and a gaming monitor with a 480Hz (!!) refresh price.
As Kirsten can attest, an enormous a part of CES’s evolution over the previous few years has been its positioning as a significant automotive present. Given how tech is interwoven with the automotive business, the transfer is sensible. Final yr, the entire of the Las Vegas Conference Heart’s shiny new West Corridor was dedicated to mobility.
Automobile makers usually make an enormous splash on the occasion, together with firms like Toyota and Hyundai, which personal TRI and Boston Dynamics, respectively. For its half, Honda has already announced that will probably be displaying off new EVs on the occasion.
Picture Credit: Sony
In recent times, huge smartphone bulletins are just about a non-starter for CES. The massive gamers have both once more shifted to their very own occasions or are protecting their powder dry for Cell World Congress in late February/early March.
Well being tech will proceed to be an enormous piece of the puzzle. We’re speaking sleep monitoring, blood glucose monitoring, blood stress — the types of stuff that had been relegated to skilled healthcare tools till pretty not too long ago. As soon as once more, Apple’s non-presence will probably be felt in a significant manner, although this yr, Apple’s ongoing patent dispute with Masimo will forged a large shadow over the occasion. Relying on how issues form up, the wearables market may very well be on the verge of wanting very completely different within the coming yr.
Talking of Apple, AR/VR was my spotlight from final yr’s occasion, having tried out new headsets from Meta, HTC, Sony and Magic Leap. With the Vision Pro likely arriving within the subsequent month or two, all eyes are going to be centered on combined actuality.
By no means one to shrink back from the highlight, Nvidia seems to be ramping up for some huge releases. AI will, after all, be the centerpiece. The corporate is rumored to be launching the RTX 4070 Tremendous and RTX 4080 Tremendous GPUs on the occasion.
CES runs January 9-12 in Las Vegas. The massive press days kick off two days prior, on the 7th. Bookmark our CES 2024 page for the most recent.
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