Organisers dismiss 'game over' talk as rivals grow

COULD THE Consumer Electronics Show’s days as the tech trendsetter be numbered?

There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about the show’s relevance, as one of its major supporters prepares to end its participation in the annual event.

Beginning in 1967, CES has presided over the introduction of the video recorder, the Commodore 64 and the DVD, to name but a handful of the event’s most famous launches.

But those were different days. For a start, there was little competition in terms of rival shows. In 2012, CES competes with the Mobile World Congress, which is becoming a forum for mobile manufacturers to make major announcements. Apple, meanwhile, does not exhibit at CES, preferring to make announcements in its own time.

Talk of the demise of CES was prompted in part by Microsoft’s statement that it would no longer play such a significant role at the annual show and that Microsoft executives would not be giving the opening keynote speech.

The main reason for the pullback is the company feels the January timing of the show does not fit with its product launch schedule.

It is the end of an era. Microsoft has a long history with CES, dating back to 1995 when Microsoft chairman Bill Gates spoke at the conference. In 1998, a new concept was born, and Microsoft began to deliver the keynote speech at the show.

“Microsoft took a risk on us early on and it benefited us both,” says Gary Shapiro, chief executive of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), which sponsors CES.

“Change is the only constant, for CES and Microsoft.”

If Shapiro is worried about the future, he has not given anything away. Looking at the show’s statistics, you can see why. This year the event stretched to 171,870sq m (1.85 million sq ft) of exhibition space. To put it in context, that’s 37 football fields’ worth of space to show off the latest innovations.

About 140,000 people are expected to have passed through the doors during the week. In comparison, CES 2011 had 2,865 exhibitors across 153,290sq m (1.65 million sq ft).

Whether the loss of Microsoft will have a negative impact has yet to be seen. But while the company has played a major role in CES in recent years, there is no doubt another large tech firm will step into its keynote shoes.

The CEA has already dismissed the speculation about the show. A few days before it opened, the association’s Jason Oxman wrote: “I’ll just say this: there are 2,695 other CES exhibitors that also will not be keynoting in 2013. Let’s put this in perspective: when we send out all our invitations to keynoters for 2013 (which we haven’t done yet), one company has let us know that they don’t want to receive one. And that’s fine with us – and fine with the dozens of companies that beg us for a keynote slot and suddenly have a new opportunity to take the stage.”

Although there are plenty of rival events to steal news away from CES, it still acts as an indicator of the tech trends for the coming year.

The type of firm that exhibits at CES has also changed over the years, with car companies such as Ford and Audi becoming an increasing presence. Meanwhile, more software and services companies are using the conference to reach out to potential customers.

“There is a whole world outside of Apple and Microsoft. I feel the attendance is at least as high as it was last year,” says Greg Casey of Irish firm Dial2Do.

“People are always going to be interested in the next great thing.”

It may be premature to talk of CES’s demise, but change is certainly coming for the iconic show.