I entered the 2024 CES show through my usual “secret” way that avoids the crowds. And as I walked to the North Hall through the Westgate hotel, I was excited to see that the empty “for two years” Asian electronic component manufacturers hotel convention halls were full. So, fingers were crossed that the show was going to memorable. And it was … but not in a good way.
Without any exaggeration, the entirety of the show was utterly dominated by China … probably around 90 percent. Even last year’s show seemed more normal with many major companies attending than the 2024 CES with larger attendance. The lack of major players in so many different categories was startling. The lack of almost ALL major players, combined with the show being flooded with Chinese companies that no one in the western world has probably heard of, was shocking. The China virus, even after three years, still continues to hurt the show in countless ways. Regardless of whether the virus release was intentional or not, very obviously someone in China made the decision to flood CES with Chinese companies as a show of power.
The few major companies that did display had unimpressive, sparsely stocked products to show and virtually no one actually there from the company. Some displays were so bad that I wondered who within those companies “green lit” the booths. Both Sony and Samsung, two of the three largest displays, literally had nothing that wasn’t shown in previous shows. Perhaps that’s why no one of any stature that actually worked for those companies attended and manned their booths. The only other major display, LG, had a lackluster booth as well, but seemed they at least tried a bit more to be interesting. Bear in mind, this was amazingly obvious after only 15 minutes in the largest building – the Central Hall.
Traditionally, the junk of the show (toys, bottle openers, cheap Bluetooth speakers, children’s record players, etc.) were kept in the extreme back of the hall away from the real show. However, this year it was front and center, and it screamed that the 2024 CES show was in serious trouble. The only companies of serious note to attend were: Canon, Nikon, LG, Sony, Samsung, Ring, Google, Amazon and BMW … while there were a few more large companies to attend, their displays were so incredibly lackluster/ridiculously small, that it simply doesn’t merit mention as an attendee.
Some displays were so sparsely filled, like the Sony area (about the size of a small grocery store), that I’m guessing there were about a dozen or so items to see. ALL of them were completely boring/old and the vaporware BEV car appeared to be the same one they’ve been showing for the last few years. Even if it was brand new … from my perspective, it was impossible to tell as it looked so uninspired/tired. From what I could tell, they didn’t actually show anything new … essentially only rehashed stuff they’ve been making for years and years.
I don’t know what this bodes for future CES shows, but with certainty, there undoubtably were discussions among the major players who did and didn’t attend, about this fiasco. What I can say with unwavering accuracy, is that if China is allowed to be the overwhelmingly dominant force in the show, CES is doomed. Without the largest tech companies showing their innovation and demonstrating their prowess in full, it’s only a short matter of time before CES ceases to exist. As CES sits now, it’s acting as nothing more than a mouthpiece for Communist China …
I did find a single silver-lining in the dark cloud that was the 2024 CES … there were several times more displays serving gourmet coffees than ever before … If only there had been a good use for that caffeine.