It appears that CES 2022 is the latest victim of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. This will have been the reason that led 75 brands to cancel their physical presence at the event facilities in Las Vegas.
And we are talking about “heavy” brands such as Amazon, Mercedes, BMW, Google, Twitter, among others with a similar global reach.
CES 2022 will take place, a guarantee granted by the company that organizes the event
The Consumer Electronic Show or CES takes place every year in Las Vegas, at the beginning of each year and is usually a showcase for the technology trends of that year. But since the emergence of Covid-19, the event has taken a heavy toll. Unfortunately, this year is no exception and this tech showcase will fall short of expectations.
Now it is known, even on the eve of the opening of doors, that 75 brands have canceled their physical presence in the Las Vegas space, reserved for the event. All claimed that the reason for not coming to the facility was directly related to the appearance and rapid spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
But despite so many dropouts, Gary Shapiro, manager of the CTA company that organizes the event, assures that CES 2022 will happen, but that “it will certainly be different from previous years.”
Dropouts at CES 2022
And different is one of the possible words to describe it. Empty could be another, since the absence of 75 stands is significant enough to be visible and, perhaps, even force a new logistics in the management of the space open to the public.
But at the end of the day, which companies gave up an event of this importance? In addition to being many, they have big names, which makes it difficult to manage this scam. Here is a list of some of the companies that left:
And these are only 15 of the companies that pulled out, but as you could see, the names are too loud, globally, which will certainly have a negative impact on the event.
Ómicron moves brands and media away
These retreats become even more relevant when one remembers that this year’s edition of CES was a return to the face-to-face space. Already in 2021, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the organization limited itself to holding the event on the online platform.
Companies such as Amazon, Twitter and Meta have declared that they have given up being physically present in the space due to the uncertainty generated by the new variant of Omicron and do not want to put the health of their employees at risk.
On the other hand, several technological media around the world have also announced that this year they will not personally cover the event, precisely because of the appearance of a new variant of Covid-19 that is highly transmissible.
The organization guarantees the strict application of health protocols.
In light of all these statements, the organization has already gone public to ensure that a set of health protocols is in place, including the requirement that everyone present must be vaccinated against Covid-19.
But it seems that convincing some of the biggest tech companies to take to the Las Vegas stage is not enough. For now, one of the consequences is that the duration of the event has been reduced, that is, it was scheduled to take place from January 5 to 8, but now it is known that the last day will be January 7. And it seems the motive is to avoid more physical contact exactly … or is it because there is nothing else to present due to withdrawals?
