Arlington, Va — The results of an attendance audit of International CES, just released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), showed a record crowd of 152,203 industry professionals, including more than 25,000 international attendees, during its Jan. 5-8 run.
The association said the confirmed attendance figures made “International CES as the world’s largest trade show for consumer technology.”
“The audit results prove that 2006 was the year that the International CES transformed from an industry trade show to a major global event,” said Gary Shapiro, CEA president/CEO. “In addition to the who’s who of the technology industry, the 2006 show also attracted top government officials, Hollywood stars, entertainment industry executives, engineers, retail buyers and media from all over the world.”
According to CEA, the trade show was the largest CES in history in terms of attendance and square footage. Attendance in 2006 increased 4.3 percent over the 2005 mark of 145,868. With the addition of the Sands Expo and Convention Center, 2,700 CES exhibitors showcased their wares over a record 1.69 million net square feet of space.
International attendance at the 2006 International CES reached an all time high of 25,493 from 144 countries, up from 23,000 attendees from 115 countries in 2005, an increase of 5.4 percent.
Sixty formal delegations from around the world attended CES in 2006, including 28 first-time delegations from such countries as Bulgaria, Denmark, Nigeria and Sweden.
“The audit verifies that attendance at the International CES continues to increase among our targeted categories,” said Karen Chupka, CEA events and conferences senior VP. “We were thrilled to see that a significant amount of new attendees in 2006 came from outside the United States.”
According to auditor VERIS’s report, 42 percent of all 2006 International CES attendees were senior-level executives, with more than 16,000 being a president, CEO or business owner, the association said. Additionally, more than one-third of CES attendees are the final decision makers on new product buys and partnerships.
Attendees also included some 6,849 engineers, 18,650 retail buyers and 3,180 venture capitalists and business developers, along with more than 8,500 attendees from the content, broadcast, film and software development/publishing industries. CEA said the number of content development and film industry attendees more than doubled over 2005 numbers.
Government officials attending the show numbered more than 120 federal, state and international offices and agencies. Policymakers from the United States Congress, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and representatives from the French, German and Japanese governments were on hand to participate in several public policy conference sessions, CEA said.
In addition, more than 4,500 media and 2,200 financial and market analysts attended in 2006. Of that, 944 were international journalists representing 52 different countries, up 6 percent from 2005.
The 2007 International CES is scheduled for Jan. 8-11, 2007. More than 1.4 million square feet of exhibit space already sold for the show, CEA said.
