“Innovate or die!” A familiar mantra from the CEO and President of the Consumer Electronics Association, Gary Shapiro, and again a common theme in his keynote this morning to open the Consumer Electronics Show for 2015. Because “innovation by it’s very nature disrupts the status quo” and innovation is what CES is all about!
With over 3600 companies showcasing their latest and greatest products and services and 375 of these companies being new start-ups in the Eureka Park section of this year’s show, it appears that innovation is alive and well in the road ahead for consumer electronics. In the U.S alone, it is projected that the CE market will grow around 3% to over 223 billion dollars in 2015.
To a packed ballroom the President of the CEA then went on to discuss the evolution of retail and how the way we acquire our products is being changed by new technologies. In the past, present and future, the bricks and mortar retail experience remains paramount for consumers to experience new technology in a “hands on” environment to make an informed decision based on qualification of their needs. In more recent times and as we look ahead, online purchasing will continue to grow and new technology will offer alternative solutions for product fulfillment after purchase.
Technologies like drone and unmanned aircraft delivery systems are already being trialed and with a record ten car manufacturers involved in this year’s CES, driver-less cars are a hot topic and clearly another part of “the road ahead” (pun intended) for delivery of purchases. Or how about purchasing the schematics of a product online then printing at home utilizing 3D printing technology? A lot of it sounds like science fiction but these technologies continue to gain strength and accessibility and will gain further traction in 2015.
Other themes for this year’s show will undoubtedly be wearable technology and the internet of things, adding intelligence and smart integration between devices, products and objects previously considered stand-alone, but increasingly we are seeing smart usage models for these objects to intelligently adapt and provide feedback to better suit our needs.
And then the doors to to the 2015 show were thrown open, with over 2 million square feet of exhibit space and 160,000 attendees from 140 countries, it’s promising to be a big show and a big year for consumer electronics.
For more information on CES – http://www.cesweb.org
For more information on Gary Shapiro – http://www.ce.org/about-cea/executive-profile/cea-executive-board/gary-shapiro.aspx
For more news and highlights from CES 2015 watch this space and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn
By Chris Holst, Client Service Director – Technology at Retail Safari.
