CES 2024, a four-day event, will showcase the latest advances in artificial intelligence (AI), automotive, robotics, virtual and augmented reality and more.

The first major tech event of 2024 is expected to have a strong Asian presence, including big names from South Korea and Japan. But one notable group will be missing again: Chinese Big Tech. Geopolitical tensions and other factors have kept the likes of Alibaba and Tencent away from CES for several years, though ByteDance and its TikTok subsidiary will be there. Meanwhile, smaller Chinese companies remain strongly interested in both CES and the U.S. market.

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CES 2024 takes place from January 9-12 in Las Vegas, USA. (Photo: campaignlive)

Here are five things to watch for at CES 2024.

AI and more AI

Artificial intelligence (AI) will certainly be the buzzword both at CES and in 2024 in general.

After the AI ​​boom of 2023 thanks to ChatGPT, this year will see more real-world AI use cases. Companies at CES will want to showcase their latest AI products, even if some are still in the concept stage.

Chipmakers like Intel, Qualcomm, and electronics giants like Samsung and Siemens will all focus their keynotes on AI. Nvidia, the US chip giant that has emerged as one of the biggest winners in the generative AI race, has hinted that it will unveil new AI products at CES 2024. Meanwhile, handset makers like Lenovo will unveil AI PCs and phones at the event.

Smaller exhibitors aren’t missing out on the AI ​​craze either. Startups from around the world are leveraging AI to collaborate in the workplace, from health to logistics to beauty. But it’s unclear how many of them will be able to translate the AI ​​buzzword into meaningful industry innovation.

Cars and rockets

Though known as a consumer electronics trade show, CES has started to look more like an auto show in recent years. From South Korea’s Kia and Hyundai to Japan’s Honda and Germany’s Mercedes-Benz, global automakers and their suppliers are a big part of CES 2024.

The cars on display, however, are not your typical cars. Attendees will be able to experience autonomous driving technologies, check out new electric vehicle (EV) models, and even see a bunch of flying cars. Honda has teased a new “global EV line,” while Chinese EV maker XPeng will debut its latest flying car outside of China.

Cars won’t be the only flying objects at CES this year. Rockets and other space technologies will also be on display as industry companies and government officials discuss advances in the “final frontier” that impact everything from AI to international relations.

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With Apple set to ship its first mixed reality headset, the Vision Pro, earlier this year, industry players are hoping it will kickstart mass adoption of virtual and augmented reality devices, often seen as gateways to the metaverse.

Meanwhile, leading mixed reality device makers like Meta, HTC, and Magic Leap are set to unveil their latest devices this week. While the Vision Pro is expected to dominate the high-end market, others are positioning themselves as more affordable options.

Yasushi Yamamoto, a senior researcher at the Institute for Media Environment in Tokyo, said metaverse products “still lack a compelling reason for users to use them.” He pointed to limitations such as the cumbersome head-mounted displays. Companies are still “laying the groundwork” for the future of the market, the expert said.

The number of attendees increased

CES's cachet has faded somewhat over the years, especially during the pandemic, when large in-person events were banned.

CES 2024 is expected to see a surge in attendance. Organizer CTA said there will be more than 4,000 exhibitors and 130,000 attendees, up from 3,200 companies and 117,841 attendees in 2023. That would still be smaller than the last edition before Covid-19, when more than 170,000 people gathered in Las Vegas for CES 2020, according to the event’s organizer.

However, Asia has shown strong and growing interest in the US show over the years, with visitors from South Korea and Japan ranking second and third in attendance at CES 2023, with 11,941 and 4,182, respectively.

South Korea continues to have a strong year. Samsung is scheduled to hold a press conference on January 8 (local time) with the theme "AI for All: Connectivity in the Age of AI" , while more than 700 compatriots, including LG and Kia, are expected to exhibit at CES this year.

The number of companies with Korean origins could be even larger, according to Yamamoto, as “some companies set up offices in the US and enter as US companies.” Korean startups prioritize the North American market because the domestic market is not as large as that of neighboring Japan.

Meanwhile, about 70 Japanese companies will attend, including big names like Sony and Panasonic Holdings. However, relatively few automakers will be present, which observers say is due to the relatively cautious strategy of Japanese companies. Western manufacturers, by contrast, have been more comfortable showing concept cars, such as an AI-powered color-changing BMW shown at CES earlier this year.

According to a CTA spokesperson, they noted an increase in registrations and a strong presence from exhibitors and attendees in the Asia-Pacific region, an important market for the global technology industry.

Less Chinese Big Tech, More Startups

In recent years, the number of Chinese exhibitors has declined due to the Covid-19 pandemic and US-China tensions. Only 2,296 people from China will attend CES 2023, a significant decrease from the 11,067 attendees at CES 2020, 12,839 in 2019 and 15,383 in 2018.

Familiar names like Huawei, Alibaba and Tencent will be absent this year, although some big Chinese consumer electronics names are expected to appear, including Hisense and TCL. ByteDance and its subsidiary TikTok are also on the exhibitor list.

China is following a general trend among CES exhibitors. Many large companies reserve their biggest announcements for internal launch events, with products aimed primarily at consumers at home. They leave CES to smaller companies. Of the 4,000 exhibitors this year, more than 1,200 will set up booths at Eureka Park, a space dedicated to global startups.

More than 1,000 companies from China, mostly startups and smaller firms, are on the CES 2024 exhibitor list, with many of them looking for growth abroad amid increasingly fierce competition at home.

(According to Nikkei)