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CES 2009 Shrinks With Dwindling Economy
nandemoari writes "Not long after we first heard murmurs Microsoft may be ready to lay off as much as 17 per cent of its workforce, the popular Consumer Electronics Show, held every year in Las Vegas, is rumored to be shrinking alongside the global economy. The Consumer Electronics Association, host of the CES, estimates that the numbers of both exhibitors and visitors will be down in 2009. The CEA expects about 130,000 people will attend this year, down 11,000 from last year. And about 2,700 exhibitors are expected to attend, down from 3,000 in 2008."
Dwindle the numbers of exhibitors and visitors all you want, but if you cut back on the booth babes, you've crossed the line...
because most of the exhibitors signed up long before the credit crunch started to bite. I'd expect to see a drastically reduced show next year. But at least Apple might attend for a change.
Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.
I'm a U.S. citizen who has been residing abroad for the last several years. One thing I have noticed, in speaking with friends from all over the world, is how much more difficult it is to attend family ad professional functions in the US. People have to apply for transit visas, they have to get fingerprinted, have more and more data entered into federal databases. More and more people seem to being denied entry, too. I've heard of nominees for the Latin Grammies who were denied entry because they were coming from Cuba, Europeans who were denied entry because they overstayed a visa a decade ago by two days. Other governments are getting more hostile to travellers, too; please don't get me wrong. (rant=on)However, the US goes a magnitude beyond most other Western governments. The UK seems to be the only other western country that treats business persons, shoppers, etc., whose only fault is being born on the wrong side of an arbitrary line in the sand, like criminals.
Of course because non-citizens can't vote, it's next to impossible to get this reported in media in the US, and policy will not loosen anytime soon. Of course, policymakers don't realize how much this hurts trade relations, tourism, etc.
The lack of unabated growth in everything we do is not necessarily a sign of some impending doom.
Our culture seems to have this mentality that it's a bad thing whenever something isn't consumed more, or more popular this year than the last. But at some point in the long run, if it doesn't stop, things will be far worse. It's okay if fewer people don't go to CES this year...there's still next year. Plus can't people keep up-to-date online? Isn't that what the digital age is all about?
If you need a reality check re. growth, watch this professor's summary of how continuing growth is ultimately going to hurt us (as most of us at least recognize in an arms-length, academic way): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-QA2rkpBSY
The video is 8 parts (sorry) and mostly focused on energy/economy, but it's pretty interesting/eye-opening. Most people already recognize these issues, but mostly at an arms-length, academic level. This video really brings reality of our future into focus.
You should be more sensitive. We just had a Macworld Keynote with none of the overdue iMacs, minis, or MacPros released, no new LCD, and no new iPhone. And no Steve. Why does food and shelter even matter?
Apple releasing a large laptop with a non-user-replaceable battery is a sign of desperation on the battery front, not success. LED backlighting is no longer an expensive technology and has found its way into netbooks, so a new technology is needed there to create significant improvement. And e-readers are just too small. Everything else really works well enough. Consumer electronics is getting to be like plumbing, or refrigerators, or cookers. You don't have Whirlpool fanboys or people who endless post on the Internet on the virtues of push fit versus compression joints. Perhaps it's a sign of maturity of the industry.
From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
In volatile market, only stable investment is porn!
A member of my family is a big name Hollywood director/producer. I asked him the other day how the economic downturn is affecting his industry. During the Depression the entertainment industry did fairly well, so I expected to hear things were fine.
Turns out I was wrong. Hollywood is hit as hard as everyone else. I'd expect the porn industry to be the same.
But you've got to remember, if you're seeing the economic slump from inside the US, you're seeing the worst of it by far.
Canada is sluggish, certainly, but not at all in the virtual free fall that the US seems to be getting. Parts of Europe are the same. The only two countries that really seem to be getting hit hard are the US and UK, although China's taking a bit of a beating, too.
Let's see...all the surveillance states are getting the worst of the economic fallout. Wonder if that means anything?
"City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
Dollars are still flowing, they're just going to either smaller/up-and-coming shows, or to private/direct shows and efforts. CES has been about 3 times too big for the last 10 years; there is simply too MUCH of CES to make it relevant for most people, dealers, etc.
Best to break it in to about 5 different shows: Computers (bring back a real COMDEX), audio/video, telecom (including the 9,000 cell phone accessories guys on the 2nd floor of the convention center), home automation (really belongs at CEDIA anyway), and mobile electronics (which may be a better fit at SEMA).
When your show takes half the LV Hilton, 1/3rd of the Venetian, the Sands Convention Center, the entire LV Convention Center, and hundreds of additional off-site presentation and demo spaces, it's just too big. Running your own bus system for conventioneers should have been the first clue!
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Let's see...all the surveillance states are getting the worst of the economic fallout. Wonder if that means anything?
That correlation is not causation?