With half the number of exhibitors, is this year's CES still worth looking forward to?

Due to the impact of the epidemic, CES 2021 will be held online, so it will definitely be a very cool exhibition.

According to statistics. At CES 2020, there were 4,419 exhibiting companies and 171,268 attendees. But this year, the number of exhibitors is less than half that number, only 1,967, and many companies that occupy a lot of exhibition space, such as Google, Ford, Toyota, Honda and BlackBerry, are not even participating in the 2021 CES. However, despite the all-digital format of this event, exhibiting companies will also show off many innovative products.

So what are the hot trends at CES that we should be keeping an eye out for in these most unusual of years?

Trend 1: Health and work safety

The endless COVID-19 has brought about earth-shaking changes in our working patterns.

As vaccines become widely available soon, public places will reopen at a faster pace. TechRepublic Editor-in-Chief Bill Detwiler said that technology vendors, even those that have never been involved in this field before, are launching products and services to help individuals and companies return to the new normal in a safe form.

In healthcare, CES 2021 will feature "companies demonstrating how technology will benefit or transform society."

Trend 2: Integration of work and personal life

Vendors are now designing products that can bridge the gap between work and personal life. People often use laptops, phones and tablets for both work and personal life, but now there are specific products for this market. Detwiler: "We have been working from home for a year, and for many people, this trend may not disappear in the short term."

Trend 3: 5G will become more mainstream

This is a trend that is not going away anytime soon. "It will not completely replace 4G infrastructure anytime soon, but 5G is still one of the enterprise technologies that will underpin a lot of things. Those smart gadgets, smart home technology, self-driving cars, telemedicine, all of these technologies that were shown at CES need a way to communicate with themselves, whether it's through the cloud or 5G, especially when combined with technologies like edge computing, it does have the potential to provide almost real-time communication and data transfer."

Trend 4: Innovation in how people interact with desktop and laptop computers

As the pandemic changes how and where people work, with many people working mostly from home, people are interacting with their desktops and laptops in new ways. In the past, innovation has been focused on smartphones and wearable devices. Steve Ranger, editor-in-chief of Teena Maddox and UK, said companies that showcase "innovations around improving these types of interactions" show that there is still creativity in laptops and PCs.

Trend 5: Electric vehicles and autonomous driving

This year is the year of electric vehicles. Ford launched a new all-electric Mustang, Tesla produced and delivered 500,000 vehicles in 2020, and many other automakers have joined the ranks. In addition, it is reported that General Motors will showcase its upcoming new electric vehicles and a new plug-in hybrid version of the pickup truck at the 2021 CES. In addition, GM will also showcase its latest technological achievements and the design direction of future electric products. It is reported that General Motors will invest $27 billion in the research and development of electric vehicles and autonomous driving in the next five years, and will launch 30 pure electric models worldwide, covering Buick, Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, including Hummer EV, Chevrolet's new electric SUV, etc. It can be seen that the mystery that General Motors will reveal at the 2021 CES is very worth looking forward to.

Separately, several auto parts makers are rolling out heads-up displays and other features for consumers. John Deere will also unveil an artificial intelligence and robot-driven tractor at CES.

Trend 6: Mobile devices are still a bright spot

Mobile World Congress (MWC) is usually held around CES. MWC was canceled in 2020 and postponed to June 28 this year. Therefore, companies such as Samsung and Motorola are taking advantage of this opportunity to show off their new mobile devices at CES. Samsung even launched a new Galaxy S21 phone, which will be unveiled on January 14.