Hand-wringing over consumer spending may dull the glow of millions of new flashy gadgets on display at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
The trade show,the biggest of its kind,is set to feature 2,700 exhibitors in Sin City next week.
It attracts companies from Orange County and around the world eager to display the latest in consumer gear as well as retailers looking to buy for the year to come.
A slew of local technology companies are attending the big event. But some have decided to scale back in light of tougher times.
Some are getting smaller, less-flashy booths, while others are opting for meeting rooms instead of high-priced exhibition spaces.
Still more have taken the whole shebang offsite to demonstrate their products at a suite in one of The Strip’s many hotels.
Taiwan’s D-Link Corp., a maker of networking gear which has its U.S. headquarters in Fountain Valley, is skimping in some places and splurging on others.
Last year, D-Link had an enormous setup on the show floor with freestanding pedestals showing off its gear, a stage for live demonstrations and a gaggle of scantily-clad ladies handing out T-shirts and Frisbees.
“No girls this year,” said Dan Kelly, director of marketing. “We actually decided to scale down CES over a year ago, when we predicted we would be falling on even rougher times. We are finding ways so that we can still get to the right customers, editors and visitors because consumers are still a key market for us.”
D-Link is set to have a meeting room on the show floor and a suite at Caesar’s Palace.
The company still is doing that other CES standby to drum up interest,a big party.
D-Link is partnering with Fountain Valley’s Kinston Technology Co., the biggest maker of computer and flash memory products, to throw a red dragon-themed soiree at Club Tao.
Irvine’s IOGear Inc., which makes keyboards, cables, mice and other computer products, is set to have a smaller booth this year.
“We did have to take steps and scale back on what we are doing with the booth,” said spokesman Bill Nguyen. “We looked at building a double-decker booth but the look and feel of the layout had to be scaled back and we are doing a single-floor version. We all feel the stresses of the economic situation and we are making adjustments.”
Some other companies with big local operations that are set to be at CES include Cypress-based Universal Electronics Inc., Irvine’s Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., Irvine’s Vizio Inc., Viewsonic Corp., which is headquartered in Walnut, and Irvine’s Linksys, a unit of Cisco Systems Inc.
There’s also a handful of OC chipmakers set to attend, including Irvine’s Broadcom Corp., Irvine-based Quartics Inc., Newport Beach-based Mindspeed Technologies Inc. and startup Symwave Inc., which moved to Laguna Niguel from San Diego earlier this year.
For more CES coverage, check www.ocbj.com next week and see the Jan. 5 print edition of the Business Journal.
