COVID-19 Impacting 2022 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas

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Of all the conventions and trade shows that call Las Vegas home, the largest is the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the most influential technology event in the world.

Though it is not open to the public, many tourists still end up crashing the show to hear first-hand of the new product launches.

And CES has also been a big draw for travel-related companies eager to introduce new innovations, including a presentation on travel gear in 2019 and a panel featuring MSC Cruises in 2020 at the last full in-person event.

But as this year's show opens tomorrow, Wednesday, January 5, it's a glass-half-full or half-empty proposition depending on how you look at it. CES is still on, which is saying more than last year when the entire event was postponed due to COVID-19 and became a virtual show.

But this year is a watered-down version.

The rapidly spreading Omicron variant of the virus forced organizers to cut the four-day event to three, and numerous big-name companies have decided against making live appearances at the show.

Peloton announced its withdrawal from CES on Monday, saying it will not attend Thursday's exclusive invite-only Leaders In Technology dinner.

The company joins Procter & Gamble, Facebook, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, General Motors, Intel, Lenovo, T-Mobile, TikTok and Twitter as businesses that will not attend or not give in-person keynote addresses.

But, as Consumer Technology Association president and CEO Gary Shapiro wrote in an op-ed commentary for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the show must go on.

"We know several major companies have reduced their physical presence at CES 2022, and we understand their concerns. They want to protect their employees from COVID-19 and the risk of having to quarantine in Las Vegas," Shapiro wrote. "… More than 80 percent of our membership is smaller companies. These companies and these founders are the ones I think of when I say it's not time to pull the plug on CES 2022. CES will and must go on. It will have many more small companies than large ones. It may have big gaps on the show floor. Certainly, it will be different from previous years. It may be messy. But innovation is messy. It is risky and uncomfortable. … If we cancel the show, we will hurt thousands of smaller companies, entrepreneurs and innovators who have made investments in building their exhibits and are counting on CES for their business, inspiration and future. If we do not cancel, we face the drumbeat of press and other critics who tell the story only through their lens of drama and big-name companies."

Shapiro ended his commentary by saying, "It's time we return to making the world better rather than living in fear."