CES 2022: other pundits of the tech industry withdraw, the show more and more uncertain

Cancellations for CES 2022 continue. After Lenovo, Amazon or even Meta, to name but a few, the turn of several industry giants to confirm their withdrawal. Google and Waymo are among them, as is Intel.

Will the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2022 really take place from January 5 to 8, in Las Vegas? This is the question that is currently agitating the electronics and new technologies sector, which is facing a wave of withdrawals echoing that of MWC 2020.

The epidemic resumption induced by the Omicron variant indeed casts great doubt on the holding of the show and its ability not to create a giant cluster on the American west coast. Some companies see it that way, and have canceled their visit. Let's mention T-Mobile, Amazon, iHeartRadio, Meta (ex-Facebook), Twitter or Lenovo.

The media are leaking

The phenomenon also affects the entire American press, which prefers to cover the CES remotely and via virtual conferences rather than on site. The creme de la creme of tech media, such as The Verge, TechRadar, TechCrunch, Engadget, CNET or even Tom's Guide will not tread the aisles of the meeting.

As expected, and by snowball effect, other companies – and not just any – have joined this list which is starting to grow day by day. These are Google and Waymo, both subsidiaries of Alphabet. Waymo was a major player in the field of autonomous driving. His absence is bad news for the organizers.

Waymo has updated its blog to explain the reasons for its choice: “Given the rapid increase in the rate of Covid-19 infection, Waymo has made the difficult decision not to physically participate in CES 2022. We aim always to participate virtually in certain events related to CES”, it is written.

Worse still: Intel won't show up either, according to Bloomberg. The famous semiconductor manufacturer, probably mired in the current shortage of components, used to present its advances in processors with a few new products in support.

General Motors backtracks

The CES is also a crucial meeting place for automotive and mobility companies. Unfortunately, a certain General Motors has also retracted, when it was to introduce a new electric pickup – the Silverado EV – via its Chevrolet brand. In the end, nothing will happen. GM will favor a digital approach to present it.

Undoubtedly, all these cancellations call for others. We will keep a close eye over the next few days on the positioning of the players normally present at CES 2022. Everything could go very quickly: an outright cancellation of the event during the course of next week cannot be ruled out.

Even if, for the moment, the director of the show seems determined to maintain it.

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