You should admire CES for its sturdiness. The Consumer Electronics Show bought its begin in 1967 when it was spun off from the Chicago Music Show and attracted 17,500 attendees at its debut occasion in New York City. Since then, it has traveled by means of Chicago and Orlando, lastly consolidating at its winter residence in Las Vegas, the place it has grow to be a mainstay of Sin City’s commerce present and tourism calendar.
One may argue that success has gone to its head, leading to its self-anointed tagline of “the most powerful trade show in the world.” If the moniker is a reference to the present’s ever-expanding carbon footprint, it might be right. It takes a variety of juice to energy up these acres of electronics.
What I discover most fascinating is the change occurring within the mixture of merchandise taking on all that CES acreage. The occasion remains to be awash in residence electronics and home equipment of each description. Yet, a rising portion of its exhibit area appears to be changing to a high-end parking zone for electrified and digitally enhanced autos. These vary from automobiles to combines (the huge farming selection), in addition to tractors, trailers, and, in fact, tractor-trailers, aka semis.
I used to be notably fascinated by the big variety of cars taking on area within the cavernous exhibit halls this 12 months, hailing from far-flung factories world wide. It has led me to suppose that, more and more, CES might come to face for “Cars & Electronics Show” within the minds of many observers and attendees.
What’s In a Name?
Consider the quantity and number of automakers who selected to announce or show new fashions and automobile ideas on the January 2024 occasion. Kia, Hyundai, Honda, Volkswagen, and others grabbed headlines.
Conspicuously on the sidelines this 12 months had been most American carmakers and most of the European OEMs (unique tools producers) that spent spectacular sums to show their new EVs and computerized autos finally 12 months’s CES. The late 2023 choices by Stellantis, Ford, GM, and others to forgo the present in 2024 triggered a lot consternation within the fall. However, Asian makers shortly stuffed the vacuum, many chomping on the bit to realize entry to home markets in North America and Europe.
Chinese EV producers had been notably considerable on the January 2024 present, in some instances displaying off autos which are equally suited to journey by land or air:
The reality is that the traces between automobiles and client electronics are blurring quickly. Many automobile-related bulletins on the present concerned demonstrations of latest methods synthetic intelligence — notably generative AI capabilities derived from giant language mannequin (LLM) algorithms — are being ported into autos.
Bracing for the Asian EV Invasion
One of the perfect panels on the subject to seem at CES this 12 months was “Coding the Car: The Innovators of Software-Defined Vehicles,” hosted by MotorTrend’s Head of Editorial Ed Loh. Loh’s friends included Mercedes Chief Software Officer Magnus Östberg, who mentioned the fiercely aggressive market the premium German carmaker faces promoting into China’s home market immediately.
“Some American friends of mine don’t really believe me, but it’s the most competitive capitalism I’ve ever seen as long as I’ve been alive,” Östberg stated. In order to “move at local speed” to compete in China’s scorching home market, Mercedes has opened new services in Shanghai and Beijing and sought native partnerships that may reply to China’s distinctive market pressures sooner than a lot of Mercedes’ conventional provide chain companions, he stated.
Fellow panelist Nakul Duggal, Qualcomm’s group basic supervisor of automotive, industrial, and cloud, famous that competing for enterprise in China has made Qualcomm a stronger competitor globally. “In phrases of the diploma at which the market strikes, the urge for food for disruption, the urge for food for experimentation — it’s made us stronger, frankly, in each single enterprise we’ve participated in in China.
“It’s also a market that is very heavily export-driven,” Duggal famous. Wendy Bauer, vp & basic supervisor of automotive and manufacturing for Amazon Web Services (AWS), concurred with Duggal that China’s automotive export potential is ramping shortly. “The China-to-global [market] is increasing in activity,” she noticed, noting AWS bulletins of partnerships with two main Chinese auto OEMs — BYD and SAIC — in November 2023.
Automakers’ Strategic Focus on China
The OEMs “have chosen AWS as their strategic cloud partner around their connected car to really drive that scale and efficiency, and global is on their mind. So, we’re working hard to support our customers through that true globalization, and it’s very active from our seat,” Bauer added.
John Wall, senior vp and head of BlackBerry’s QNX real-time working system (RTOS) software program, stated he expects the variety of automotive OEMs working in China to constrict within the close to future, however the alternatives are super. “It’s a race,” Wall stated. “The pace at which they’re creating is forcing us to place much more assets in China, to serve them in-language, in-time-zone.
“Today we’re very, very successful in China,” Wall added, noting current wins in delivering digital cockpit and ADAS options, typically alongside companions reminiscent of Qualcomm and Nvidia. The tempo might be taxing and requires a swift response to market wants. “We are now having to work with the local chip suppliers because that is something, from a geopolitical perspective, that is being requested by the customers there,” Wall stated.
What Comes Next for the ‘C’ in CES?
“We have to start thinking about how we are going to do business in China in the future,” Wall concluded. “We know that if we just stay a Canadian company, with no kind of indigenous roots in China, that we’re going to have an issue potentially in the future. And this is something that keeps me up at night.”
Clearly, Wall just isn’t the one world automobile exec pondering the long run affect of China’s burgeoning manufacturing ranges. It leaves this reporter questioning: What different phrases that begin with “C” may finally substitute “consumer” within the CES identify additional down the street?