(4 Jan 2023)
FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 4413523
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Las Vegas, Nevada - 3 January 2023
HEADLINE: CES 2023: Tech world to gather, show off gadgets
1. Las Vegas street
2. Wide, Las Vegas Convention Center exteriors
3. Various, crews preparing convention center
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Shawn Dubravac, CEO Avrio Institute:
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"CES was timed last year with the the rise of the Omicron variant that caused many companies to cancel. And then this year we're back in full force in-person, back at CES. It's really the first time for many since 2020 at the start of the pandemic. We're set to have a phenomenal CES. We're looking at well over 2 million net square feet. It's about 70% bigger than it was last year. We've got over a thousand startups here at CES showing what they're bringing into the world. And on top of that, we have thousands of additional companies that are coming here to talk about the solutions they're bringing into the market. CES has a tremendously long time history and it's been around for well over 50 years. It's always evolving and always changing with the technology that's coming to fruition. Also, timing with the intersection of how society is changing. So I think CES is very well positioned to talk about where technology is going, but also where the broader world is going, where society is going in a post-pandemic world."
6. Las Vegas skyline
STORYLINE:
CES, the annual tech industry event formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show, is returning to Las Vegas this week with the hope that it looks more like it did before the coronavirus pandemic.
Media previews start Tuesday and Wednesday, with the show opening Thursday and continuing through Sunday.
The show changed its name to CES several years ago to better reflect the changing industry and the event, which had expanded beyond audio and video to include automotive, digital health, smart phones, wearables and other technologies.
Companies and startups will showcase innovations in virtual reality, robotics and consumer tech items to the media and others in the tech industry. The show is not open to the general public.
Organizers say their goal is to draw 100,000 attendees. That would be a marked contrast with the look and feel of the past two shows — the last of which saw a 70% drop in in-person attendance amid the spread of the Omicron variant. The one before that was held virtually, replacing in-person displays and meet and greets with video streams and chats.
Even if organizers reach their goal, it would still represent a 41% dip in attendance compared to the in-person show held in early 2020, before the pandemic consumed much of everyday life.
Thousands of companies have signed up to attend the event. They include many startups and routine visitors like Amazon and Facebook parent Meta, both of which have recently cut jobs and implemented hiring freezes after beefing up their staff during the pandemic.
Other tech companies have also been tightening their belts and laying off workers amid concerns about the economic environment.
AP Video Shot by Eugene Garcia
Video Production by Luke Sheridan
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