The Consumer Technology Association has announced that CES will not be held in January 2021 as previously planned. CES is the world’s largest consumer tech show, dominating much of the news agenda earlier this year. In a statement, the organizers say the 2021 show will now be a “fully digital experience”. It was to be expected.
CES 2021: a fully digital edition
“In the midst of the pandemic,” says CTA chief Gary Shapiro, “it is simply not possible to safely reunite tens of thousands of people in Las Vegas in early January 2021.”
Some might say the decision has been a long time coming, as a number of other events were called off as the pandemic raged. As recently as June, CTA said it expected CES 2021 to take place live, in Las Vegas. But the hopeful message followed a report that appeared in early April that suggested the 2020 event helped accelerate the spread of the virus. Considering that the event brought together 182,000 participants from all over the world, all crammed like sardines in the exhibition halls, this is certainly plausible.
The association had declared, for CES 2021, that it intended to take a number of additional precautions to allow the show to take place. This included wider aisles, more space in meeting and group areas as well as regular sanitation of booths and tables. Despite this, it is likely that a number of companies would rather stay at home than spend a lot of money sending their employees to the event.
We will wait to learn more about how this digital-only event unfolds and how CTA will encourage the discovery of lesser-known startups in this new format. It will inevitably be less alive and less impressive in video than in real life.