Consumer Electronics Show Keeps Reinventing Itself - Wall Street Journal

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Some people say the Consumer Electronics Show has waned in importance, partly because some big names like Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. aren't exhibitors. But that would be hard to tell from this week's invasion of Las Vegas.

The massive trade show once again is expected to draw on the order of 150,000 attendees and 3,000 exhibitors over the course of the event, which formally kicks off with keynote speeches Monday night and extends through Friday.

"We are at capacity," says Gary Shapiro, president and chief executive of the Consumer Electronics Association, the show's organizer.

Some of the reasons are reflected in the name Mr. Shapiro always uses in referring to the event—the International CES, never the Consumer Electronics Show.

The show, which has been running since 1967, grew up around devices like television sets and stereos sold by distributors and retailers. But it has continually morphed to add new classes of products and companies that don't fit the classic consumer-electronics description.

This year, for example, auto makers like BMW AG, Ford Motor Co., Audi AG and General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet unit are holding events to tout advances in in-vehicle electronics and, in some cases, demonstrate self-driving cars. Other events at CES focus on sectors such as 3-D printing, mobile apps, health-related gadgets, technology startups and the virtual currency bitcoin.

Some big-name Web companies will be on hand, though they don't typically have booths on the show floor.

Yahoo Inc. Chief Executive Marissa Mayer, for example, is hosting her first CES keynote on Tuesday, while Twitter Inc. CEO Dick Costolo will take part in a panel discussion Wednesday. Google Inc., meanwhile, will participate in an Audi keynote, people familiar with the situation have said.

The CES keynotes, some of which attract thousands of attendees, give big companies a chance to expose their technology agendas and new leaders to a broad audience. Intel Corp. CEO Brian Krzanich, who took the job in May, is expected to focus on topics like Intel's efforts to get into devices beyond personal computers.

Sony Corp.'s Kazuo Hirai, who took his position in 2012, will likely outline how to integrate content and hardware better, with possibilities like an online streaming service to bring more content to its PlayStation 4 videogame console.

Other familiar names at CES are expected to show off the advances and size leaps for high-end TVs, many of which use a high-resolution technology called ultrahigh-definition TV, or 4K. Both LG Electronics Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. have new curved models measured at 105 inches; the latter also plans to show a 110-inch TV.

One newer focus at the show is wearable electronics, a category that includes various fitness-tracking devices and smartwatches. A flood of product demonstrations and announcements are expected by both large and small companies.

"Wearables have a good chance of being story at the show this year," says John Curran, managing director for communications, media and technology at the consulting company Accenture PLC. "It's a category that is rapidly growing in terms of consumer sentiment and interest to buy."

His firm estimates the market for wearable devices generated $1 billion to $3 billion in revenue in 2013, and could swell to $6 billion to $8 billion by 2018.

But others are less sanguine, particularly about smartwatches designed to deliver text messages and other alerts to customers' wrists. Bob O'Donnell, an analyst at market-research firm TECHnalysis Research, jokes that the volume of product announcements this year might outnumber the actual units sold. One challenge, he adds, is that most smartwatches now have no long-distance communications of their own, serving essentially as accessories for smartphones.

"If it's just a duplication of everything the smartphone does, I'm not convinced it will be valuable for most people," Mr. O'Donnell says.

–Kana Inagaki and Ian Sherr contributed to this article.
–The Week Ahead looks at coming corporate events.

Write to Don Clark at don.clark@wsj.com

06 Jan, 2014

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