Face defections
and with the Omicron variant outbreak in the United States, CES organizers made the decision to shorten the event.
The more days go by, the more certain professionals in new technologies and electronics wonder if maintaining CES 2022 in its physical version still has an interest. On Friday, hours before the start of the New Year, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which hosts the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), announced that the event will be shortened. The fair will end in fact one day earlier.
CES 2022 cut off by one day “only”
Initially, and if we exclude the traditional day of press conferences, CES 2022 was to take place from January 5 to 8 inclusive. But the organizers have decided to remove the last day from the calendar, so the event will end on January 7.
“ This measure was taken as an additional safety measure to the current health protocols that have been put in place for CES. », Announces the CTA, which indicates that more than 2,200 exhibitors had confirmed their participation in the event face-to-face in recent days. ” Those unable to make it to Las Vegas for CES 2022 have the option to register digitally and will have the opportunity to experience the magic of Las Vegas », Add the organizers, who try all the same to ensure the promotion of the virtual version of the event, privileged by many professionals, journalists or companies.
The announcement of the deletion of the last day has caused mixed reactions on social media and on CES accounts. Some deplore the organization’s refusal to reimburse participants who wish to switch from a physical presence to an online presence, while others have finally decided not to make the trip because of this single canceled day. Some Internet users sensitive to the event also do not understand that it was not postponed for several months or simply canceled, as was the case in early 2021.
Despite the measures on site, the show also cut off from several big names
Due to the rapid spread of the Omicron variant and an outbreak of Covid-19 which is soaring in the United States (326,455 new cases daily over the last 7 days), many reputable companies have announced that they are not going to the Nevada and focus on digital participation only. Amazon (and Ring), Google (and Waymo), Microsoft, Intel, Lenovo, Meta (Facebook), Microsoft, NVIDIA, Pinterest, AT&T, La Poste, T-Mobile, TikTok, Twitter, iHeartRadio, GM, AMD, OnePlus and MSI are absent.
All the participants who gave up on CES 2022 in physics raised the pandemic as an argument. It must be said that the evolution of contaminations proves them right, the number of new cases of Covid-19 having quite simply doubled in eight days in the United States.
The CTA has in any case announced that it has imposed draconian measures to minimize the risk of contamination on site. In addition to a vaccination obligation, participants must wear a mask in all circumstances and must have provided a negative test 24 hours before entering a place stamped CES. Those coming from abroad will also have to have carried out a Covid test 24 hours before their departure. Test kits will also be made available everywhere on CES sites, and some self-tests will be tolerated.
Either way, this 2022 CES edition promises to be special in many ways. Clubic will not fail to relay the most significant announcements of the show to you.
Source: THOSE
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