What to expect at CES 2015: wearables, Intel Broadwell devices, retail-ready VR headsets, more
Here's what to expect from CES 2015 — The future will be wearable, autonomous, and always connected — With 2014 now firmly in the rearview mirror, the tech industry is gearing …
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the opening installment of The Verge's annual CES preview ritual, and its four expected themes — wearables, Intel Broadwell devices, retail-ready VR headsets and always-connected tech — form the baseline that every later edition measures against. A year on, the CES 2016 preview keeps virtual reality and wearables at the top of the list while adding smart home products and drones, suggesting 2015's bets graduated from speculation to fixture.
First-order effects
- Intel's expected Broadwell showcase sets the hardware agenda for PC makers at the show, since laptop and desktop vendors time their announcements to the chip refresh.
- Headset makers bringing retail-ready VR units shift the category from trade-show demos to actual purchase decisions by buyers walking the floor.
Second-order effects
- Rival device categories — wearables, connected cars, always-connected gadgets — compete for the same press attention Intel and the VR vendors command, pushing smaller exhibitors toward louder stunts.
- If Broadwell devices land as expected, component suppliers and accessory makers align their 2015 roadmaps to the new silicon's power and graphics profile.
Third-order effects
- The recurrence across the 2020 edition — where 5G phones, smart home devices and foldables replace Broadwell as the headliners — shows CES functioning as the industry's fixed January reveal calendar, with each year's preview effectively forecasting which categories will dominate retail for the following twelve months.
- A pattern holds across the series: categories debut as demos (VR in 2015), return as fixtures (wireless audio and VR deluge in 2017), and eventually fade into background specs — meaning today's headliners are tomorrow's commodity lines.
The trend: CES has hardened into the tech industry's annual category-setting event, where each January's preview list predicts which product classes move from show-floor novelty to mass retail within a couple of cycles.