COVID curtails CES 2022 plans for Meta and other tech firms that cancel in-person attendance
There are just two weeks left until the world’s largest technology conference kicks off in Las Vegas, but the lingering coronavirus pandemic could dampen plans for the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) yet again.
CES is hosting the event in-person this year, after it was held online this year, but instead of companies flocking to the exhibition center, many big name firms are canceling plans to attend in-person.
In just the past several days, T-Mobile, Meta, Amazon and Twitter have all canceled, along with the Lenovo Group, one of the largest exhibitors at the annual showcase, which made the announcement to cancel late Wednesday.
‘After closely monitoring the current trends surrounding COVID, it is in the best interest of the health and safety of our employees, customers, partners, and our communities to suspend all on-site activity in Las Vegas,’ Lenovo shared on Twitter.
Waymo, the Alphabet Inc-owned self-driving auto-technology company, and ByteDance’s social video app TikTok on Thursday joined the companies no longer attending.
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) said on Wednesday that it received 42 cancellations, but also shared it added 60 new exhibitors since last week, Bloomberg reports.
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CES is hosting the event in-person this year, after it was held online this year, but instead of companies flocking to the exhibition center, many big name firms are canceling plans to attend in-person
CES, which will be held from January 5 through January 8, typically attracts more than 180,000 visitors from around the world – but the last time anyone walked through the 2.9 million-square-foot exhibit center was January 2020.
Waymo said in a blog post that it hopes to participate virtually if possible at the Las Vegas event, which traditionally has drawn over 180,000 people from around the world to discuss emerging technologies and party through the night with business contacts.
TikTok said it would hold a virtual event for partners and advertisers. Also on Thursday, Intel Corp said in a statement it would minimize staffing at CES.
‘The health and safety of our employees, partners and customers is always a top priority,’ the chipmaker said. ‘Our plans for CES will move to a digital-first, live experience, with minimal on-site staff.’
CES, which will be held from January 5 through January 8, typically attracts more than 180,000 visitors from around the world – but the last time anyone walked through the 2.9 million-square-foot exhibit center was January 2020
When CTA first announced CES 2022 would be in-person, more than 2,100 exhibitors signed up to showcase their latest and greatest innovations and give keynote speeches at the event.
Signups, however, began earlier this year when COVID cases were at a low, but winter is here and cases have once again spiked – daily infections in the US saw a 52 percent increase in just the last week.
T-Mobile is another company that recently shared news of its cancelation.
‘T-Mobile will continue to serve as a CES sponsor and title sponsor of the DRL Championship Race but the vast majority of our team will not be traveling to Las Vegas,’ reads the company’s press release.
‘Additionally, T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert will no longer be offering a keynote in-person or virtually.’
CTA firs announced CES would be held in-person in April 2021.
And at the time of the announcement, Jean Foster, senior vice president of marketing and communications for CTA, said they expect 75,000 attendees – it is not clear how many attendees are currently signed up to attend in-person.
Although many companies are pulling out of attending in-person, others are not letting the pandemic stop them from showing up in Las Vegas.
In just the past several days, T-Mobile, Meta, Amazon and Twitter have all canceled, along with the Lenovo Group, one of the largest exhibitors at the annual showcase, which made the announcement to cancel late Wednesday
The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) said on Wednesday that it received 42 cancellations, but also shared it added 60 new exhibitors since last week
Samsung, Qualcomm, Sony, Google, and HTC are all still planning to show up.
Bloomberg also notes that AMD is planning a limited presence, Nvidia will have a virtual-only keynote and that Qualcomm, OnePlus and HTC will attend in-person.
CTA expressed its excitement that the show will go on and plans to take ‘comprehensive health measures.’
The organizers have implemented a ‘vaccination requirement, masking and availability of Covid-19 tests — coupled with lower attendance and social distancing measures’ give it confidence that ‘attendees and exhibitors can have a socially distanced but worthwhile and productive event in Las Vegas.’
However, CTA is also offering the ability to companies to attend virtually.
‘Registrations for both our digital access and our Las Vegas event are continuing to show strong momentum, with thousands more registrations in the last few days,’ the CTA said.
