CES 2023: A First Look at the Show, Keynotes and Sessions

Introduction

The Coresight Research team will attend CES 2023 (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show), hosted by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) in Las Vegas, with the exhibits running during January 5–8, 2023, following two Media Days.

In this report, we provide an early look at the show’s media days, keynotes and sessions, including three major product showcases.

• For more on what to expect from CES 2023, read our separate preview report.

Look out for upcoming reports in January 2023, when we will present our insights from the show.

CES 2023: First Look—Coresight Research Insights

The 2023 iteration of CES will follow the annual conference’s typical format, comprising five major components:

• Media Days, featuring press conferences from major technology leaders
• Keynote addresses, featuring remarks from current and emerging key technology segments
• The conference program, which includes presentations on a wide variety of tech topics
• Three product showcases: CES Unveiled, Pepcom and Showstoppers
• The trade show, which spans three exhibit halls and features booths and demos from established companies and innovators around the world

Media Days: Presentations from Global Tech Powerhouses (January 3–4)

The Media Days will kick off with a presentation on “Trends to Watch” by Steve Koenig, VP of Market Research at CTA, who will outline global tech trends. The first day will also see the CES Unveiled product showcase (discussed later in this report).

The second day will be replete with press conferences from global tech companies, which are only open to media and industry analysts. Coresight Research plans to catch as many of the press conferences as possible, including from Hisense, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony and TCL.

• Read our coverage of last year’s event: CES 2022: 10 Insights from the Media Days.

Keynotes: The Expansion of Tech into Other Sectors, Particularly Automotive (January 4–5)

In Figure 1, we show selected keynotes from CES 2023 from the available agenda (as of December 20, 2022). Although it is typical for CES to offer keynotes from the electronics industry, the 2023 event will see keynotes featuring three speakers from the automotive/transportation industry. It is also notable to see speakers from retail and healthcare, indicating the spread of tech into other industries.

Figure 1. CES 2023: Selected Major Keynotes (PST)

Source: CTA

The Metaverse Is the New Major Addition to CES (January 4–7)

The 2023 conference program will cover typical topics such as fitness and wearables, home entertainment, smart cities, smart home and startups. However, it will also feature several metaverse-related topics, including:

• Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR)
• Cryptocurrency and NFTs (non-fungible tokens)
• Web 3.0 and metaverse

Other key topics at CES will include:

• Food technology
• Space technology
• Vehicle technology, which has been expanded beyond electric cars to encompass vehicles that traverse land, sea and air

CES will also focus on several social topics in 2023, including:

• Human security for all
• The good that tech can do
• Diversity and inclusion

Three Major Product Showcases: CES Unveiled, Pepcom and Showstoppers

Three product showcases will take place at CES 2023, presenting curated selections of the 4,500 exhibitors presenting in the conference halls. All three showcases take place in a large exhibit hall and feature booths where vendors demonstrate and explain their products, offering hands-on experience of new products and an opportunity to meet with inventors and tech company executives.

• CES Unveiled will take place on January 3, after the “Trends to Watch” presentation. (Read our insights from last year: CES 2022: Five Cool Products Seen at CES Unveiled.)
• Pepcom Digital Experience! is set to be held on January 4. Pepcom is a marketing organization for tech companies that holds several showcases per year in New York City in addition to the Las Vegas showcase. (Read our insights from last year: CES 2022: 10 Innovative Startups from Pepcom Digital Experience!.)
• Showstoppers is a PR and digital events company that presents an annual product showcase at CES, which will be held on January 5 at the 2023 event. (Read our insights from last year: CES 2022 Showstoppers Exhibit: 10 Innovations from Technology Startups.)

The World’s Largest Trade Show—Focus on the New West Hall and Eureka Park

Company exhibits will be hosted in two main locations:

• The Las Vegas Convention Center, which contains exhibits in the three historical halls plus the newly completed West Hall (which was open for CES 2022), will be dedicated to mobility (air, land and sea), especially automotive products.
• The Venetian Expo (formerly Sands), which is part of the Venetian-Palazzo complex and contains Eureka Park, where most of the innovators are located. We plan to meet innovators from Israel, Hong Kong, France and other countries. The Venetian Expo is one of the most innovative areas of CES; these emerging companies provide a good picture of what will become major trends in future years.

What We Think

It is always a challenge to absorb the mind-boggling amount of new information and technology presented at every CES show. We will present key messages from the event in our daily coverage reports, as well as highlight exciting products and emerging innovators, so that both attendees and those unable to travel to Las Vegas won’t miss out on anything!

We characterize this year’s show as evolutionary, rather than revolutionary (i.e., showing applications of existing technologies rather than introducing new, groundbreaking ones), with one major exception: the metaverse. We expect to see numerous demonstrations of metaverse technology, as well as its foundational technologies such as cryptocurrencies, NFTs, virtual reality and haptics, and other physical sensors and devices.

In addition, we expect to see an increased focus on all kinds of autonomous vehicles (air, land and sea), as well as a diversified focus on other industries such as retail and healthcare, as tech is starting to permeate practically every other industry.