CTA Teases 'Digital Experience' for CES '23; Expects 100K Attendees

CTA expects CES 2023 Jan. 5-8 at the Las Vegas Convention Center to be the largest in-person, audited business event to take place in the U.S. since early 2020, it said Thursday. CTA has an attendance goal of 100,000, far lower than the pre-pandemic 171,268 posted from CES 2020 but well above the 40,000-plus (see 2201100001) at CES 2022. The show was canceled in 2021 due to COVID-19.

CES 2023 will also feature a “digital experience,” offering access to over 75 conference sessions and keynotes, “digital activations,” and a network of CES exhibitors, media and attendees, said the news release. The show will have over 200 conference sessions featuring more than 750 speakers, it said. Digital registration begins later this year; in-person registration is open.

The trade group was criticized last year for the lack of a hybrid event, which would have linked tens of thousands of remote attendees not attending CES -- due to the spread of the COVID-19 omicron variant -- to the show’s real-time events. CTA CEO Gary Shapiro said in a social media exchange last year, “In a perfect world we could do that -- but not with the platform we selected. Not a pivot we could make in two weeks over a holiday season.” CTA didn't respond to questions Friday.

"People are excited to head back to Las Vegas for CES 2023, and it will rock," said Shapiro, noting attendance commitments from Abbott, Amazon, AMD, Google, John Deere, LG, Qualcomm, Roku, Samsung, Sony, Stellantis and Verizon. CES' footprint is projected to be 40% larger than for CES 2022, it said.

CTA Vice President John Kelley, acting CES show director, said the “robust conference program shows momentum beyond the show floor,” referencing “hundreds of sessions,” including ones on transportation and mobility, digital health, metaverse and sustainability. New to this year’s show will be sessions focused on the creator economy, non-fungible tokens and Web3, Kelley said.

The automotive sector will be “bigger than ever” at CES 2023, with nearly 300 exhibitors in a sold-out West Hall; booths will show the latest in self-driving technology, electric vehicles and personal mobility devices, CTA said. The digital health category will have exhibitors including Abbott, Lotte Healthcare, MedWand Solutions and Omron Healthcare, it said.

The new Web3 category will feature activations from Meta, SK and others, CTA said, “with a focus on how associated technologies -- including those for metaverse and cryptocurrency -- can revolutionize how we live, work and play in an immersive, inclusive and distributed virtual universe.”

John Deere will return to CES as one of “hundreds” of exhibitors focused on sustainability, CTA said. The agricultural machinery company will demonstrate how tech innovation can conserve energy and increase power generation, address food shortages and create more sustainable agricultural systems, improve resilience and recovery from natural disasters, power smart cities and support access to clean water, it said.

CES is partnering with the World Academy of Art and Science to spotlight how technology helps people tackle pressing global problems, it said. Support of U.N. efforts to advance Human Security for All will be a theme throughout the show in conferences and keynotes, it said.