The yearly Consumer Electronics Show that is held in Las Vegas has kicked off despite major companies and brands pulling out. Fears over the ongoing pandemic and the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 have led the organizers of the event to make a tough decision. CES 2022 will conclude a day early, cutting back the last day of the show from Jan 8 to Jan 7, 2022.
While the announcement was made a few days ago, Gary J. Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Tech Association, did not pull the trigger right away. On December 25, 2021, Shapiro took to the Las Vegas Review-Journal to publish commentary that was met with heavy criticism, stating that “CES will and must go on in Las Vegas”.
This threw the tech industry into a conundrum, seeing as Big Tech companies like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft all had backed out of CES 2022 by then. The growing list of absentees must have forced Shapiro and the rest of the CTA to come to terms with the fact that the novel coronavirus pandemic is still a force to be reckoned with.
Soon after, a considerable amount of media and PR entities announced that they would not be among the attendees either. To adapt to the situation, CES released a statement confirming the following:
Those that are unable to travel for CES 2022 have the flexibility to join digitally, with access to more than 40 conference sessions.
More information about the world’s largest tech show can be found at CES’s official website.
Namerah is a Technology Journalist with experience at leading online publications like Android Central. She has a passion for all things tech and gaming, and has been an honorary Goodreads librarian since 2011. When she isn't writing, she can be found chasing stray cats and dogs in the streets of Dhaka or slaying dragons in the land of Skyrim. Email her at namerah@goodereader.com
