CES: Expect The Unexpected
By Steve Smith -- TWICE, 1/6/2005
For those who are reading this in Las Vegas, welcome to the 2005 International CES. While the show's producer avoids making predictions, I will. This will probably be the largest CES in history, easily surpassing last year's record attendance of over 130,000.
There are going to be a lot of people in Vegas this weekend, whatever the final number turns out to be. Attendees are going to see plenty of new and different technologies and finished products for the first time. You could say that about many of the shows in the past decade, but this time the diversity of technology should make the 2005 edition one to put in the record books.
While there are always surprises at CES, even for reporters like ours, if you take a close look at this issue (and if you're at the show the TWICE CES Daily, the official daily of CES) you should get a good handle of what's going on in Vegas this week.
HDTV, which has hogged the spotlight at the last few shows and in the marketplace the last couple of years, will continue to garner much of the attention this week and rightly so. Established and new manufacturers are trying different form factors and features to attract consumer attention, to slow the inevitable decline in pricing and margins that always occurs when a CE product becomes more and more popular.
But diversity and product development have always been the keys to success in this business. For instance, the audio components category, which was left for dead a couple of years ago as the attention moved to HDTV, revived. Why? Suppliers and retailers began to cater to consumers who just bought their first flat panels and began to sell the audio side of the HDTV story. You'll see more audio components designed to be matched with flat-panel displays here.
And what would CES be without a good, old-fashioned format war? Well, proponents of HD DVD and Blu-ray have been skirmishing for attention during the holiday season, so look for some battling in the desert this week.
Speaking of feuds, the Hatfields & McCoys of the CE industry (XM and Sirius) will also vie for attention here, with both turning to portable and home audio applications for further growth.
In autosound the industry has finally acknowledged that iPod, and MP3 players in general, are a phenomenon that can't be ignored. Consumers want to use their iPods or MP3s in their cars, and car stereo suppliers want them to, so the industry has developed a variety of kits just for that purpose, which will debut at CES.
And VoIP may be ready for its close up. This week a plethora of phone suppliers will be showing new hardware. This could be a major profit area for the industry during 2005.
Did I mention video games? Well, at press time we did not have details on what Sony or Microsoft would be announcing about their respective PlayStation and Xbox franchises, but if you know anything about the game business expect the unexpected.
In fact you could almost say that “expect the unexpected” should be the motto of this year's CES, as well as the overall motto of the CE industry. If you are lucky enough to be in Vegas this week, have a great show, and to everyone have a happy, healthy and profitable New Year.
No related content found.
Featured Company
-
Brightpoint
BrightPoint is a global leader in mobile device lifecycle services. We provide a full suite of end-to-end supply chain and customization solutions to manufacturers, retailers and carriers in the mobile device industry. In a world that is increasingly connected with ever-evolving ..more
VIEW ALL GALLERIES