Technology fair
CES 2022: Shrunk tech show instead of triumphant return
The logo of the technology fair CES can be seen in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Photo: Andrej Sokolow / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
There have been no major trade fairs for two years. At the CES in Las Vegas, instead of a triumphant return, there will now be a slimmed-down tech show without many big names.
With this year’s edition, the makers of the technology fair CES wanted to set an example for the return of major industry events.
But on the home stretch, the Omikron variant thwarted their plans. The tech show in Las Vegas is still taking place – but many heavyweights stay away from the exhibition halls of the desert city.
Around Christmas, one big name fell after the other: Intel, Google, Amazon, the world’s largest PC manufacturer Lenovo and the hi-fi giant Harman referred to corona risks for their employees. The strong presence of the auto industry – the pride of CES boss Gary Shapiro – also melted away. The US auto giant General Motors wanted to introduce a new model in Las Vegas with a performance by CEO Mary Barra – canceled. The risk was also too great for BMW and Mercedes, the robot car company Waymo and the automotive supplier Continental.
Despite the cancellation of these heavyweights, more than 2200 exhibitors are still represented on site, emphasizes the US industry association CTA as the CES organizer. And in the past two weeks, 143 new companies have joined the company despite Omikron. After the cancellations, the show was shortened by one day and now closes on Friday.
CES 2021 was a purely online event, this time there will be a mix of presentations in Las Vegas and internet broadcasts. The German electronics company Bosch, for example, is holding a digital press conference on Tuesday – shortly afterwards, the chip specialist Qualcomm wants to present its new products as usual in the ballroom of a Las Vegas hotel.
All participants must be fully vaccinated
The CTA and its boss Gary Shapiro long hoped to be on the safe side by stipulating that all participants must be fully vaccinated. A new concept was designed for the halls with wider aisles and one-way traffic for visitors. Now there will be even more freedom due to the cancellations.
Despite the Omikron setback, the CES organizers are convinced that big events that bring many industry players and journalists together have a future. The online version was an appropriate response to the corona situation a year ago, Shapiro told the German press agency. “But what was missing was interpersonal contact.” One cannot hope for surprising inspirations online like when walking through the exhibition halls.
The network effects also explain that this time the rejections grew like a rolling snowball. The more companies stay away from the fair, the less it is worthwhile for others. He could have flown to Las Vegas, but it is not worth it because the people he is talking to are not there, says a senior manager of a European industry specialist.
The question is what the second year in the shadow of Corona means for the future of CES. The 2008 financial crisis once contributed to the decline of the Cebit computer fair in Hanover. At that time, many international companies had to forego a trip to Germany – and found that they could do without it. Little by little, the former global show mutated into a local event and was finally discontinued.
However, Shapiro sees more reasons for the failure of the competition and believes he can avoid them. A decisive factor was that the organizers did not manage to fill new product categories, he argues. The CES, on the other hand, managed to lure the automotive industry to Las Vegas, among other things, and overtook the traditional auto show in Detroit with more exciting premieres. Shapiro’s calculation: The need for trade fairs will continue to exist, the CES wants to be the one that remains relevant.
“The CES will and must continue”
A good 171,000 visitors from all over the world came to CES 2020, shortly before the start of the pandemic. For this year Shapiro dared not predict, but was defiant. “The CES will and must go on,” he wrote in a guest post in the “Las Vegas Review-Journal” after the cancellations. You will have a lot more small than large companies and there could be large gaps in the exhibition halls, he admitted at the same time.
With a CES on the back burner, the tourist metropolis Las Vegas will again miss out on high revenues. Hotel rooms, expensive restaurant visits and rented ballrooms – the income from the CES is usually firmly planned for the beginning of January.
However, thanks to the strong domestic tourism, the players’ paradise gets through the Corona period quite well. There was only one lockdown at the start of the pandemic. In general, masks still have to be worn indoors – but in clubs and restaurants you don’t need a vaccination certificate or test. At Christmas the big hotels on the Las Vegas Strip were full as usual. The occupancy of the hotels was between 73 and 82 percent in the previous months. And with an average of around four million passengers per month at Las Vegas Airport, travel is approaching the levels before the pandemic began.