As the International Consumer Electronics (C.E.S.) Show opens today in Las Vegas the talk has already begun on next year's show and the future of the show.
Estimates are that more than 140,000 people will attend the 2012 show. But questions arise as to the importance of the show as bigger companies now prefer to introduce products at more exclusive events where they control the show.
In December, Microsoft said the 2012 show would be its last. Microsoft chief executive, Steven A. Ballmer, will no longer deliver a keynote speech for the event After this year. Executives of wireless carriers have also stated they will no longer be delivering keynote speeches.
Is the internet killing the trade show industry?
Some suggest the Consumer Electronics Show may be heading the way of the COMDEX trade show. COMDEX (Computer Dealers' Exhibition) was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world, it was held in Las Vegas, each November from 1979 to 2003. In its hey day COMDEX would attract over 200,000 visitors to their week long event.
In the pre-internet days of the 1970s and 1980s, the greatest inventions and innovations, such as the the videocassette recorder in 1970 and the camcorder in 1981, would be released at major trade shows like the C.E.S.
As companies are cutting back on participating in trade shows many state the cost of having a meaningful presence at a show as a big factor in their decision. Another factor is the power of the internet itself as a tool to get a product announcement out to a large audience without the need for large physical event.
Today, major product announcements are done at small events controlled by a single company. The company making the announcement does not get lost in all the noise of their competition, they control the event, and they can stream the event live online for the world to see.
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