Every year, during the second week of January, Las Vegas becomes the world capital of technology and consumer electronics. More than 180,000 people approach the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) to see and touch the televisions, telephones, computers and appliances that will arrive at stores throughout the year.
The fair continues, year after year, gaining visitors and extension. It does so somewhat inexplicably because it no longer has the relevance it came to have in the first decade of the 21st century. The massive adoption of the smartphone has decimated or ended many of the product categories that flooded the pavilions of the city's convention center and surrounding hotels. Many companies that relied on CES to advertise their products, in addition, now prefer to hold private events throughout the year adjusting to their calendar needs.
The effect, however, is curious because it has allowed CES to reinvent itself almost every year in search of the next great growth vector , from 'wearable' electronics to the electrification of the car through the smart home. None of these markets currently competes with the smartphone in importance or volume of business, none have managed to return their former luster to CES, but they do give the fair a different personality in each edition.
5G and flexible screens
Two major trends will mark this year's. The first is the new generation of telephone networks (5G) , which has already begun to be implemented in several countries. Although there will be few news of telephony - the Mobile World Congress of Barcelona, in mid-February, it is usually the event that brings them together - these new networks also promise to transform many of the consumer electronics, entertainment or automotive products we use every day.
The second trend is the normalization of the flexible screen . After a year with a slightly uncertain start-no one forgets the problems that the Samsung Galaxy Fold had- it seems that this technology is willing to also enter the world of PC, tablets and other computer and entertainment products. At home, the news will focus on televisions with 8K resolution and variable refresh rate, technologies that promise to bring larger and larger screens with a much sharper image and spectacular designs into the living room.
The PC wants to return to the stage
After years in free fall the PC market seems to have stabilized and this 2020 several developments promise to inject some vitality among manufacturers.
Intel will define in this CES its strategy for the transition to 10 nanometer processors , which arrives with some delay but now seems finally ready to make the leap to all types of machines. With these new processors it will be possible to build lighter computers , with more autonomy or that risk with new formats and riskier designs.
AMD will also take advantage of the fair to launch new processors and graphics cards that are very focused on the gaming market, one of the few sectors that still gives PC manufacturers joy.
New generation of consoles (and dildos?)
2020 will also be the year in which we will see a new generation of video game consoles for the show. Microsoft has already shown the design of the future Xbox and Sony could advance some details of the successor to the Playstation 4 at its press conference on Monday (early Tuesday in Spain).
There is also interest in the role that sex toys will play in this year's edition. Last year the organization decided to cancel one of the awards given by the audience to a dildo after numerous protests the CTA - the association of technology manufacturers, organizer of the fair - decided to change course and allow the presence of such devices as long as they have technological relevance.
This year - and with the Satysfier phenomenon as a background - several manufacturers of erotic products will bring their novelties to Las Vegas in an attempt to capitalize on the controversy of the previous edition.
A CES under Trump's shadow
And controversial , too, will be the presence of Ivanka Trump , daughter and adviser to US President Donald Trump, on the conference stages.
On Tuesday, January 7 (early Wednesday, Wednesday 8 in Spain), Ivanka Trump will participate in a talk about the administration's efforts to improve the conditions of workers in the US, science education programs and the role of women in the Electronics and computer market.
The announcement of the talk has generated an intense debate in the networks because it is considered an unnecessary intervention that mixes politics with a fair that in principle should not be partisan. It is not the first time that the conference scenarios host political figures - Bill Clinton, for example, participated in 2013 - but until now they had done so after passing through the White House.
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