At CES, it is not just about consumer tech any more

Many gadgets have become enterprise tools; big chunk of attendees at last CES were from B2B

- Leslie D'Monte

As the date for Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2025 nears, Kinsey Fabrizio's excitement is understandable. She is the president of the US-based Consumer Trade Association (CTA) that runs the world's largest tech trade show in Las Vegas.

"CES offers a glimpse into the future," she said in a video interview from her US office. "Nothing beats the energy of being in person. CES is about the serendipity of discovery—meeting someone in line for coffee who could become your next business partner or seeing a product that changes the way you live," she added.

About 140,000 people attended CES 2024, with 40.6% of the attendance coming from outside of the US, including India. CES 2025, which will see attendees from over 150 countries, is being held from 7-10 January. "We don't have the (attendee) numbers yet, but the hotel pickup is tracking ahead of this time last year. We also had more innovation award entries and speaker submissions than we had for CES 2024, indicating that it's going to be a really strong and healthy show," she added.