Sorry, Vegas — CES 2021 Is Online
• The massive annual Consumer Electronics Show — CES 2021, which was scheduled to run January 6-9, 2021 in Las Vegas, will be held — wait for it — online, yet another unfortunate result of the resurging COVID-19 pandemic. That’s the word from the Consumer Technology Association, the trade group that mounts the show every year, and as reported by Variety.
Instead, CES 2021 will be presented as “an all-digital experience” on those same dates. “Amid the pandemic and growing global health concerns about the spread of COVID-19, it’s just not possible to safely convene tens of thousands of people in Las Vegas in early January 2021 to meet and do business in person,” CTA President & CEO Gary Shapiro said in a statement.
As recently as late June, the CTA had still been planning to hold a scaled-down in-person version of CES 2021in January with safety protocols in place, although the group acknowledged at the time that it would be “a smaller show than it has been in recent years. Fewer people will be able to travel to the United States and to Las Vegas, and many of our smaller and international exhibitors will not be able to travel to Las Vegas to exhibit this year.”
Now, CTA said, it plans to return to Las Vegas for CES 2022, “combining the best elements of a physical and digital show.” CTA said it would announce programming details for the virtual CES 2021 later. The trade association said the digital convention and expo will be a “highly personalized experience” and is set to include talks from “tech innovators,” news announcements and product demos.
