January 13, 2009 by Eddy Philipe
For the past couple of weeks technology bloggers and traditional journalists alike have been talking about little other than the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), what was announced, who was there, who was meeting with who. With all the press from this year’s CES, it would be easy to assume that the event was a rip-roaring success but the picture is not that clear.
In terms of product launches and announcements, yes it was, there are several dozen talking points from the CES that will probably dominate the next twelve months of development. However, behind the innovation, there was a worrying development for the organisers… No one was there.
Okay, not ‘no one’ exactly but significantly fewer people than turned up last year, 23% fewer to be precise. What’s more, this is the second year of decline, with the 2008 CES attendance falling from 2007.
It’s not really that much of a surprise that attendance should fall given the economy though 23% seems high. A lot of it could have to do with the venue – it doesn’t look great for a company that’s laying people off to send 100 executives to Vegas for the weekend. Many companies, it appears, cut their contingent while several didn’t turn up at all, as was evidenced by the empty stalls that could be seen around the show.
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