Local technology companies set to attend the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week say the massive trade show is starting to shake off the hangover of 2009’s bad economic trip.
“Companies are trying to get back to business as usual,” said Scott Heath of Synergy Communications Inc., a technology public relations firm that has Orange County clients heading to the show. “People are tired of pulling back. I think this will be the first show that companies are spending money on in a while.”
The last CES, held in January 2009, had a subdued feel as layoffs and the financial crisis dominated the news. It made it tough for visitors to get excited about new gadgets as industry watchers worried about plummeting consumer spending.
“You knew something was up because you couldn’t get a commitment from anybody,” said Spencer Chen, director of communications at Aliso Viejo’s Memeo Inc., a maker of photo sharing and backup software.
This year, the mood is more upbeat as companies bank on “recession fatigue”—the idea that the winding down of the recession will prompt an upswing in spending by consumers who are weary of the frugal drumbeat.
“This year the mood is much more bullish,” Chen said.
CES, which runs for three days each year in Sin City, attracts hundreds of thousands of retail buyers, exhibitors and members of the media who are set to preview electronics going on sale.
They all flock to the Las Vegas Convention Center and surrounding hotels to check out eye-catching displays and attend workshops and industry talks.
The show builds buzz around some familiar themes, including the latest in 3-D technology, robotics and going green.
Many industry watchers have their eyes on next-generation consumer electronics, including popular electronic book readers, smartphones and high-definition TVs that hook up to the Internet.
Attendee Numbers
The 2010 show is set to have more than 100,000 attendees, according to the Consumer Electronics Association, the Arlington, VA., trade group that puts on the yearly event.
That’s still less than half of the number that attended in 2008.
A record number of first-time exhibitors are expected to be at the show, the association said.
“Looking at the growth of the show over the last few months, companies are feeling more optimistic about the future,” spokesman Steve Kidera said.
A year ago, local exhibitors scaled back their plans for the show or opted out all together. Nobody wanted to appear imprudent for spending too lavishly.
This year, companies seem a bit more willing to go big at the show in order to make business deals and drum up excitement about their latest gadget offerings.
“Last year we did scale back in terms of our presence on the show floor,” said Dan Kelly, marketing director at Fountain Valley’s D-Link Systems Inc., a maker of networking gear for consumers and small businesses.
The company said it sprung this year for a 50-foot by 30-foot booth space at the convention center.
“We changed strategy to being much more noticeable on the show floor and coming into 2010 with a bang,” Kelly said.
Other local companies on hand at the show include Irvine’s Broadcom Corp., Cypress-based Universal Electronics Inc., Irvine’s Vizio Inc., Walnut’s Viewsonic Corp., Irvine’s Broadcom Corp., Fountain Valley’s Kingston Technology Co. and Anaheim’s Targus International Corp.
Also exhibiting are Laguna Niguel-based chipmaker Symwave Corp., Irvine’s Toshiba American Information Systems Inc. and Irvine’s IOGear Inc., a maker of computer peripherals.
2009 was Symwave’s first time exhibiting, where it demonstrated its chips that go into the next generation of universal serial bus ports, dubbed USB 3.0.
This year, the startup has a suite in the Las Vegas Hilton adjacent to the convention center, where it’s set to show off its ready-to-ship chips.
“It will be the big debut for a lot of our customer products,” Chief Executive Yossi Cohen said.
Symwave is targeting some new customers, including disk drive makers Western Digital Corp. of Lake Forest and Scotts Valley-based Seagate Technology LLC, which are both set to attend the event.
CES is still featuring talks by high-profile chief executives and celebrity appearances.
R&B singer John Legend is set to play at an awards ceremony hosted by Brisbane-based Monster Cable Products Inc., a maker of cables, speakers and amplifiers.
There’s an exclusive soiree for bloggers at the Atomic Testing Museum, dubbed the “It Won’t Stay in Vegas Blogger Party,” that’s set to feature as a special guest Brent Spiner of “Star Trek” fame.
Keynote speakers are set to include Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Alan Mulally and Intel Corp. Chief Paul Otellini, among others.
