Technology: threat to the CES in Las Vegas


Amazon, Meta (Facebook), Twitter… the defections are linked a few days before the opening of the show.

Will CES in Las Vegas, the annual high mass of consumer electronics take place in January? After the missed meeting of 2021, the world of new technologies hoped for the return of a “real” trade fair.

But a few days before the opening of the doors, the defections accumulate. Amazon and its subsidiary Ring dedicated to the connected home, the American mobile operator T-Mobile, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, numerous American media including the specialized sites TechCrunch, Tech Radar, Engadget, The Verge, and on this side of the Atlantic La Poste, a regular here … all threw in the towel this week.

Others, such as Samsung or Qualcomm have indicated that their presence would be reduced, while some still wonder about the relevance of their presence in the aisles of the living room. The Korean LG has chosen to innovate, with an augmented reality stand: product presentations will be accessible by scanning QR Codes. A lesser evil, but it makes you lose interest in exercising. The CES is both a place of presentation and meetings. Partnerships are formed, contracts are signed.

Strong French presence

If it is maintained – everything can still change – the 2022 edition will have a very special flavor, without the usual crowds in the aisles, widened to meet health constraints. A CES without a human tide, with a considerably reduced Chinese and Korean presence. Enough to allow the French to be the “Second delegation after the Americans” in number of start-ups.

Business France has planned more than 140 start-ups at Eureka Park, this space dedicated to young shoots and very popular with the French team. Stellantis should also make its first appearance, notably with a concept car, the Citroën Ami in an electric version, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee. But if the French presence remains important, it will be less impressive than in 2020, when 420 companies made the trip.

The 140 or so French start-ups who have planned to make the trip are crossing their fingers that the show takes place. Many of them make the trip to try to develop their business in the United States. “Don’t tell me it’s canceled”, pleads an entrepreneur, questioned about his intentions. An anxiety shared by the organizers of the show. A new blank year would be catastrophic, especially since proof was provided last year that a digital edition of an event, even one devoted to new technologies, does not work.



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