It's time for an American-style comeback for a 55-year-old legend.
After two editions disrupted by the pandemic, the largest “Tech” show in the world must reinvent itself in order to maintain its interest and legitimacy.
The CES 2023 edition, which officially opens this Thursday in Las Vegas, therefore shines the spotlight on very fashionable innovations around the mobility industry, connected health and sustainable development.
A pivot that can be found in the smallest details, such as the abandonment of the historic name of Consumer Electronic Show, which has been very marked in electronics and household appliances since 1967, for “CES”, a more inclusive and forward-looking brand.
The 3,200 exhibitors expected this year are indeed presenting the latest TVs or more or less wacky prototypes, but many companies, in particular start-ups, have come to use the sounding board of the show to unveil serious inventions and technologies. revolutionary in markets recently converted to high-tech.
The car show of the future
Present for a few editions, automotive companies are arriving en masse with 300 exhibitors and a large hall entirely dedicated to production electric cars as well as concept cars.
"This show has become the biggest automotive event in the world because electric cars have become consumer products comparable to smartphones with their updates and all their screens", underlines Florent Roulier, innovation analyst at the consulting firm. Niji Council.
The European group Stellantis will, for example, lift the veil on a vehicle with a bold design that will undoubtedly prefigure the next everyday models.
Japanese electronics giant Sony is planning to show off its first-ever car designed with Honda.
Read alsoCES 2023: “A high-tech show in Las Vegas can be ecological”, assures its boss Gary Shapiro
With a delegation of 200 exhibitors, French Tech has also firmly positioned itself on another central theme of a post-Covid CES: connected health and its innovative solutions beyond the simple gadget.
"There has been a real evolution of the show, which follows industry and market trends with medical measurement tools that were considered connected or well-being objects hidden in small stands in a separate sector that now has the right to rub shoulders with Tech giants like Google or Microsoft in the main exhibition hall, ”notes Mathieu Letombe, the boss of Withings.
The young Parisian company presents U-Scan, the first connected urine analysis laboratory to install yourself in your toilet and crowned with a prestigious CES Innovation Award.
The green shift of the electronics industry
Finally, the organizers have also bet on the theme of ecology and the climate crisis because the new technologies industry is seeking to display a more eco-responsible face with an outbid by the heavyweights of the sector in ecological initiatives such as the carbon neutrality of their products on a more or less near horizon.
"The whole ecosystem is talking about sustainable development because the leaders in our industry also want to find lasting solutions for their children and grandchildren and give optimism in the future", justifies Gary Shapiro, the boss of the CTA, the fair organizer.
The opening keynote will also give the floor to John May, CEO of tractor manufacturer John Deer, whose very first autonomous tractor aims to boost agricultural productivity and ensure food security.
Despite the absence of major delegations such as China and a sluggish economic context, the CES is counting on 100,000 visitors, far from the Roaring Twenties with the 200,000 interested, but enough to restore oxygen and credit to a model, the big global routs, whose attractiveness and environmental impact are increasingly questioned.