Few if any car audio suppliers are planning to exhibit at CES 2023, and some said they do not expect to return to the iconic show for the foreseeable future.
Last year, Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine and others opted out of CES due to COVID. But many are continuing to pass on CES ( January 5-8, 2023) because it is no longer geared to the 12 volt audience, they said.
Instead just about every leading vendor plans to exhibit at KnowledgeFest in Las Vegas, February 3-5, including JVCKenwood, Sony, Alpine, Metra, AAMP Global, Kicker and others, all of whom are not at CES.
Some said CES has become “a car show” for OEM exhibitors. Others said 12 volt dealers are now attending shows such as SEMA.
Kicker (Stillwater Designs) Director of Marketing Communications Ron Burnett said, “The industry-specific show (KnowledgeFest), being so close in early February, definitely plays into the decision. But most of the clients we need to see are now making the SEMA Show a priority, so it only makes sense for us to make that our priority as well.”
Additional shows that vie for exhibitors and dealer-attendees include the MasterTech Expo in AZ in March and the Mobile Electronics Specialists Summit in September.
A few vendors that do plan to exhibit at CES include VOXX, InstallerNet (under the name Connect2Car, which leads a series of seminars at CES), and XS Power. Harman will display during CES at the Virgin Hotel in Las Vegas, and will introduce many new products under both JBL and INFINITY.
In the past, CES has attracted over 170K attendees and this year expects 100K in-person attendees as it gradually recovers from the pandemic. About 2,200 companies plan to exhibit at the show, 1,000 of which are start ups.
Three hundred vendors will show cars, boats and farm machines at CES this year in the West Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center, said the Consumer Technology Association, which runs CES.
This has been a long time coming. CES 2020 was my 35th consecutive show. As a small exhibitor, my company relied on “walk-by” traffic for customer interaction. Attendees came to the show to meet with large 12-volt manufacturers, and then, at the conclusion of their business there, many would stop by our booth. As more and more of these companies disappeared from the show floor, the quality of potential customers stopping by our booth diminished. Knowledgefest promises to be what CES used to be for 12-volt.
CES raised prices so much over the years the car audio vendors got other locations hotel rooms rented halls at other hotels but this was just bad also. You had to be all over Vegas just to see product or get to meetings and most of time everyone was late. Than because slow down in Audio sales & cost of travel your international dist decided not to show up. Than CES moved to the week day so you lost the Car Audio retailers that would come in from CA for the weekend to see you, CES in it’s actions has decide that car audio is irrelavant for the show and has moved on!!!.
I’m surprised it took this long for them to pull out! Last time I was @ CES about 15 years ago you had to leave North Hall and go to multiple hotels to see the Vendors. Directed was @ the Hard Rock. Vizualogic was @ the Hilton and you had to wait in the hallway for your appointment time that of course was delayed. That was the beginning of the Automakers taking over! Happy Holidays to everyone!
I agree