CES 2012: Theme Recap

We attended CES this past week and had the opportunity to peruse through the thousands of booths at the show, taking in everything from the practical to the practically nuts. While CES is generally known to showcase more than its fair share of demo products that will never see the light of day, there were at least three themes that resonated and are worth commenting on.

One of the pervasive themes at CES this year was the proliferation of 3D. While 3D was definitely popular at CES 2011, CES 2012 took it up a notch and went so far as to hand out 3D glasses as you walked into one of the largest conference rooms at the show. LG had a booth that was predominately 3D as did a number of the console manufacturers. Unfortunately, despite the focus and improvement in 3D technology, the hurdle with mass use of this new technology remains content and the delivery of that content into homes. One thing made very clear by TV manufacturers is that regardless of content, if you plan on purchasing a TV in the coming years, it will most likely be of the 3D variety. By far the highlight product of the show this year was Samsung and LG’s 55’ OLED TV, which were a miniscule 4mm thick!

CES also unveiled another interesting development – the shift of the leadership in the home energy management (“HEM”) space from the software and hardware developers to the home appliance manufacturers. While it was generally thought that the leaders in the HEM space would be IT companies such as Cisco, Microsoft or Apple, which already control a lot of the IT infrastructure in the home, this has proved to be a greater challenge than most had originally thought. With companies like Cisco and Microsoft either putting such efforts on hold, or at the very least, reducing the strategic focus in this sector, the home appliance companies have stepped into the fold in a big way. 

LG’s booth had a large focus on connected appliances and while this may be a way for appliance companies like LG to obtain increased margins, the thought of consumers paying more money for an interconnected appliance or paying a monthly service charge to an appliance manufacturer for the ability to control every appliance in their house, may be a stretch. The reality, at least here in Canada, is that very few of us have the time or inclination to significantly alter our lifestyles to realize a savings of a few dollars a year under the time of use system. Until electricity prices increase significantly, home owners will likely only make moderate changes, which would have likely been done irrespective of any HEM system.  

The last theme worth mentioning should come as no surprise to anyone – this is the year of portable control. The smart device – phone or tablet – is going to rule everything even remotely connected to consumer electronics. The ability to control everything electronic in the home from one device is upon us and manufacturers that can enable this control should see a quick upturn in sales.

More than anything else, CES serves as a great pulse on the worldwide electronics and technology community. Based on the 153,000 people that attended this year (a new record), we are happy to report that the technology community is alive and well!

Contributed by Sid Paquette and Damien Steel of OMERS Ventures.