Amid COVID-19 concerns, Meta, Amazon, Ring, and Twitter cancel in-person CES plans, T-Mobile and AMD plan a limited presence, and others monitor conditions
- Google, HTC, Samsung and Sony still currently plan to go — Host of CES conference remains steadfast in moving forward
Context & Ripple Effects
CES entered the 2022 cycle with a split between exhibitors withdrawing from the physical show and companies such as Google, HTC, Samsung, and Sony still planning to attend. That follows the organizer's earlier commitment to a physical-and-digital CES format after tech events were disrupted in 2020.
The initial pullbacks became a broader exhibitor retreat: subsequent coverage records Google, GM, and Waymo canceling their in-person plans and Microsoft joining the group, even as CES organizers kept the event on track.
First-order effects
- Meta, Amazon, Ring, and Twitter forgo their in-person CES activity, while T-Mobile and AMD reduce rather than eliminate their physical presence.
- CES organizers must proceed without several high-profile exhibitors, while Google, HTC, Samsung, and Sony remain among the companies still committed to attending at this point.
Second-order effects
- Google, GM, Waymo, Intel, and then Microsoft faced the same attendance decision; the later Microsoft cancellation shows the initial withdrawals were not isolated.
- The show’s value to participating exhibitors shifts toward the companies that retain a physical presence, while firms that withdraw must rely on channels outside the show for their CES announcements.
Third-order effects
- CES is pushed toward a contingency model in which physical attendance is optional for major exhibitors, reinforcing the organizer's earlier physical-and-digital approach.
- If major companies continue to treat attendance as independently reversible, trade-show organizers will have less certainty that marquee exhibitors will anchor a physical event through its full run-up.
The trend: Large technology events are becoming hybrid by necessity, with major exhibitors retaining the ability to separate product launches from physical-show attendance.