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 a giant present. The 2020 present, which made it slightly below the wire forward of pandemic-related closures, performed host to 171,000 attendees, in line with present organizer, the Client Expertise Affiliation (CTA). For apparent causes, the figures dwindled in coming years, however 2023 discovered the present hitting a decent 115,000.
Through the years, CES’s affect has waxed and waned. Previous to the pandemic, a few of the occasion’s largest exhibitors opted to observe 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, in the event you can appeal to sufficient curiosity to your individual 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. You probably have a smaller, newer firm, reveals 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 most likely inform you, it’s arduous to face out in amongst the a whole bunch of emails I obtain every 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 Middle in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. (Photograph by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Company through Getty Pictures)
It’s a possibility to share a bodily area with the individual you’re pitching. That is particularly precious for {hardware} startups, who can current their product in individual. Most of those firms discover themselves at Eureka Park within the Venetian Expo (née Sands). That is the most effective a part of the present. It’s probably the most vigorous, fascinating and chaotic. I think a lot of the workers TechCrunch is sending would like to spend all week there. Sadly, I’ve a serious again drawback in the meanwhile, so my time there shall 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 typically firms that don’t have a ground exhibit. This may very well be on account of a scarcity of sources or as a result of they’re exhibiting 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 fascinating briefings on the occasion. They’re out of the best way, so that you don’t wish to stack up too many of those, nevertheless it’s good to have some conferences away from the chaotic din of the present ground.
Despite the aforementioned ongoing well being points, I’m really sort of wanting ahead to this CES. That is completely one thing I can’t say yearly. However my optimism is two-fold. First, I imagine we’re heading into an enchanting second for client {hardware}. Provide chain points (and worldwide relations) have brought on many to rethink how — and the place — they manufacture. A transfer towards a extra decentralized manufacturing panorama might rework the trade in thrilling methods. Second — and relatedly — we lately put out a name for CES startup pitches, and to date I’ve been impressed with each the range and high quality of the responses. I’m presently combing by an inventory of greater than 200 startups.
We’re nonetheless a couple of week and a half out from the occasion, however fascinating traits are starting to emerge. The primary must be apparent to anybody who follows the trade: generative AI. For greater than a decade, AI has grow to be an trade buzzword to the purpose of successfully shedding all which 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 whole 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 techniques like ChatGPT for a client kind issue. No matter you consider the corporate or its product, there’s a cause it’s been so hyped.
Greater than something, 2024 goes to be the yr of generative AI claims for {hardware} merchandise. Some shall be genuinely spectacular — I anticipate some superb GenAI-leveraging robotics breakthroughs over the approaching yr. Invariably, nevertheless, most of it will likely be advertising and marketing bullshit. It’s our job as reporters to find out which is which.
Talking of robotics (as I usually 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 shall be leaning into the automated processes they make the most of on the again finish. Partnerships are going to be a giant factor — bulletins involving the piloting of various robotics techniques like Agility’s Digit or Boston Dynamics’ Stretch. Who doesn’t wish to showcase a robotic of their sales space?
TV will proceed to be a serious focus. Over the previous a number of years, LG has made the strategic determination to announce its greatest merchandise forward of CES. And why not? Late December/early January is a painfully sluggish time of yr. So far, the corporate has launched a 98-inch (!) QNED LED and a gaming monitor with a 480Hz (!!) refresh price.
As Kirsten can attest, a giant a part of CES’s evolution over the previous few years has been its positioning as a serious automotive present. Given how tech is interwoven with the automotive trade, the transfer is sensible. Final yr, the entire of the Las Vegas Conference Middle’s shiny new West Corridor was dedicated to mobility.
Automobile makers typically make a giant 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 it will likely be exhibiting off new EVs on the occasion.
Picture Credit: Sony
Lately, huge smartphone bulletins are just about a non-starter for CES. The large gamers have both once more shifted to their very own occasions or are conserving their powder dry for Cellular World Congress in late February/early March.
Well being tech will proceed to be a giant piece of the puzzle. We’re speaking sleep monitoring, blood glucose monitoring, blood strain — the kinds of stuff that had been relegated to skilled healthcare gear till pretty lately. As soon as once more, Apple’s non-presence shall be felt in a serious manner, although this yr, Apple’s ongoing patent dispute with Masimo will forged an enormous 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 targeted on blended actuality.
By no means one to shrink back from the highlight, Nvidia appears 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 large press days kick off two days prior, on the 7th. Bookmark our CES 2024 page for the newest.
