Viva consumer electronics
Jinfo Blog

By Joanna Ptolomey

Item

The Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show takes place every January with the hope that what happens in Las Vegas does not stay in Las Vegas. The world’s press are invited to report, disseminate the trends, the wows, the launches and the downright daft in the world of consumer electronics.

Microsoft announced this would be their last time exhibiting. It's a question of the wrong time of the year for announcing new products that don’t fit a company pipeline, and a poor time of the year for consumer sales, considers the New York Times.

Perhaps they are now no longer the centre of the consumer electronics industry. However this is still a massive and important show for spotting trends and business-to-business opportunities.

In 2011 I reported the big theme of the tablet, this year the ultrabook. Apparently the notebook was really rubbish, too small and underpowered, but we knew that already. The ultrabook is slim, stylish, powerful and expensive, around US $1000 – ouch.

The car industry is back for 2012 and bringing first timers Mercedes Benz. I got a new car recently and I am still struggling to find the fog lamps. Some of the reported gadgets for blind spots and drifting out your lane are, in my opinion, toys for lazy drivers. But hey, my car dashboard looks like the cockpit of the Airbus A380.

Go a few years back, and the death of the TV was being announced. In 2011 TV set producers were strong at the show and this continued into 2012 especially for 3D TV and internet (smart) TVs. With only one US company, RCA, showing a set top box for use with an existing TV to make it smart I sense not only an information inequality (digital divide) but in my opinion also a missed marketing opportunity.

Even today there are people who do not have access to the internet and/or would not know where to start using a computer. But the television... now that is a very familiar piece of equipment with a high household spread. In the Birmingham Digital city project using household TVs was seen as a great way to connect the people of the city digitally.

A point to note, Apple did not exhibit yet, according to the Guardian, over one third of the halls were taken up with apps and add-ons for the iPad and iPhone. Applications continue to tickle the consumers' fancy and this is a mega business still with huge growth. Will we ever tire of hearing how badly we ran that 5K, how many calories in a doughnut, or that learning to play the guitar on a real guitar rather than the iPad really does suck? Seems not.

My favourite thing at the show is always the Wi-Fi enabled appliance, last year it was the fridge freezer, 2012 the washer dryer. The Guardian may consider this as part of your home internet network, but I think most people would prefer their people network to load the washer, sort for drying, and then put away in cupboards.

« Blog