All-Virtual CES 2021 ‘Made History,’ Says CTA, Offering No Attendance Data

CTA wasted little time extolling the success of the virtual CES 2021 as having “made history as the largest digital tech event,” without disclosing data on attendance or user engagement. The event featured nearly 2,000 exhibitors and more than 100 hours of conference programming, said CTA Thursday, without mentioning that the vast majority of the content was prerecorded weeks ago. The physical CES 2020 event in Las Vegas drew about 4,400 exhibitors. “The all-digital CES 2021 engaged the global tech community to experience innovation, make connections and conduct business,” said CTA CEO Gary Shapiro. CES 2021 “showed how the pandemic accelerated the arc of innovation and illustrated the resilience and innovative spirit of our industry,” he said. Though Shapiro conceded last month that CTA had no way to independently audit virtual CES 2021 attendance, “the exhibitors will certainly have opinions whether the event has met their expectations or not,” he said then (see 2012170058). Thursday's announcement had no exhibitor testimonials.