US tech fair swaps feet for online clicks

2021 CES gathering for gizmos offers glimpse of how events will be reshaped

The coronavirus pandemic has forced the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, out of Las Vegas and online at no charge to registrants, the organizers announced.

The decision to cancel the live show and waive registration fees ranging from $300 to $1,700 is another example of the coronavirus and the internet combining to alter the way many US companies do business.

Last week's decision to move the event online will change CES and similar events in the future but does not signal the death of the trade show industry.

Statista, a New York-based provider of statistics and survey results, expects the trade show industry to generate $16.4 billion in 2020 and $18.5 billion in 2023.

"Even large trade shows are not immune from digitization－the coronavirus pandemic just accelerated the trend," said Manish Shah, managing director of Miami Beachbased EventsInAmerica.com.

"There will be a chaotic period with turmoil much like the retail industry went through in the last two decades. Trade shows have the mindset that people will always attend live events just as Macy's and JC Penney believed their customers would always return to department stores because of merchandising. We know what happened thanks to Amazon－and the coronavirus."

Shah said trade shows will resume after the pandemic abates, but likely on a much smaller scale. Many are likely to be hybrid events mixing live and online presentations as companies look to reach wider audiences and for a bigger return on marketing costs.

So far, there's at least one outlier. The IFA trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances is still scheduled for Sept 3-5 in Berlin.

CES held its 2020 show in January but said the rising number of coronavirus cases required the cancellation of next year's event 12 months later.

"We concluded it's simply not possible to safely gather over 100,000 people indoors with a raging COVID-19 virus and no real hope for a test and widely available vaccine by January," Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Arlington, Virginia-based Consumer Technology Association, or CTA, said in a LinkedIn post.

The trade show was launched in 1967 in New York and attracted about 17,000 people. The event quickly grew and moved to Las Vegas in 1978. About 170,000 people attended this year's show.

The event billed as the largest show of its kind in the world is not open to the general public and attracts those affiliated with the consumer technology industry. The trade and general press cover the event, often hyping clever gizmos and gadgets soon to be marketed to the public.

The registration fee for the 2020 CES show ranged from $300 to $1,700 depending on the events attended. The show covered about 267,000 square meters and contributed about $287 million to the Las Vegas economy, backers said.

Possible sector change

Future online trade shows are likely to have a paywall. Online shows will be able to generate residual income by archiving interviews with key players in the industry and the keynote speeches presented by top executives.

Such changes could alter the entire trade show industry just as the transition to online forever changed newspapers and magazines by gutting advertising and enriching new players in an emerging field.

Participants in the 2021 online trade show will have a "front-row seat" for speeches by leading executives and developers in the field, CES said in a statement.

The CTA, sponsor of the annual trade show in Las Vegas, appears well positioned to foster change in the trade show industry.

"We spread the gospel of 5G, artificial intelligence, self-driving vehicles and new forms of mobility, digital and telehealth, resilience, robotics, drones, new forms of entertainment, Ultra HD screens and smart TVs to the curious, entrepreneurs, investors, business and media who can access the best of CES from their home and offices," Shapiro wrote.

"We plan to return to Las Vegas for CES 2022, combining the best elements of a physical and digital show."

scottreeves@chinadailyusa.com