2021-01-25 Woo Eun-jung, Los Angeles Trade Center, USA
-Global companies, including Korean companies, presented impressive'digital exhibitions'-
– All-digital CES has limitations, but presents new experiences to all participating companies, buyers, and visitors-
From January 1th to 11th, the world's largest IT and consumer electronics exhibition, 'CES 14' digital show was successfully held. CES is a super-large global exhibition that is held every January at the beginning of the year, and is a key event in the technology industry where various items and products covering the technology field as well as various consumer electronics are gathered.
In Part 2 of the review, we will revisit how various global companies, including Korean companies, captured the world's attention through the all-new CES 2021'Digital Venue'.
[CES 2021 Review Part 1] The prelude to a completely new'digital show'
[CES 2021 Review Part 2] A global technology contest that can't stop even the pandemic
<CES 2 Digital Venue platform available until February 15>
Source: CES 2021 Digital Exhibition Center (http://digital.ces.tech/)
Showcase of global companies that catch the eye
Although it was impossible to exhibit on the gorgeous offline stage as before, the world's leading tech companies drew attention by showing an impressive'digital exhibition' at this year's All-Digital CES. In addition to the online Keynote Addresses, various video and photo content and various conference sessions that can be accessed at any time on-demand on each company's digital exhibition website are LANSUN for the first time experiencing a complete online exhibition. It seems that it was enough to capture the attention of the visitors. In order to overcome the limitation of not being able to show their core technologies or products in reality, it is analyzed that the leading global companies in particular focused on the production of high-quality showcase videos and the production of their own exhibition websites. Let's take a look at the digital showcase scenes of major companies that left a strong impression with just the video viewed on a monitor.
At the exhibition of General Motors (GM), an American automobile company that was also notable for its impressive keynote speech, the entire automobile industry, including batteries, off-road, passenger cars, trucks, transportation, etc., is undergoing changes in all areas of our lives due to the pandemic. The introduction of innovative technology to reorganize was outstanding. The new electric battery platform'Ultium' that enables the growth and development of electric vehicles, the world's first 100% electric off-road super truck'Hummer EV Edition 1', the self-driving electric vehicle concept and vertical take-off and landing electricity, the next-generation transportation method of luxury sedan brand Cadillac. The vehicle (eVTOL) concept, the commercial electric van'EV600' and the new logistics platform'BrightDrop' using it received a lot of attention.
<GM's next-generation technology products focusing on'electric vehicles'>
Note: (From left) Electric super truck'Hummer EV', Cadillac vertical takeoff and landing electric vehicle concept, commercial electric van'EV600'
Source: CES 2021 Digital Exhibition Center (http://digital.ces.tech/), GM's keynote video
Among the global companies that captured the attention of visitors at the CES 2021 digital exhibition hall, Samsung and LG of Korea cannot be left out. Samsung emphasizes that the importance of the space called'Home' has increased in our lives, which have changed greatly due to the pandemic, and accordingly, how the technologies around us such as TVs, refrigerators, and robot home appliances can make our daily life better for all of us. Focused on whether to provide. This also leads to the theme of Samsung's CES exhibition,'Better Normal for All'. This year, he did not participate in the keynote speech, but Samsung attracted the audience with a very impressive press conference video. In addition, the showcase videos for each product also attracted attention. The main products introduced include'Bespoke', a modular refrigerator that allows you to customize colors, sizes, and configurations, and various types of TV products that you can choose according to your needs, including a 110-inch'Micro LED' TV, and use long arms There are'Bot Handy', a robot that helps household chores, and'JetBot 90 AI+', an artificial intelligence (AI) robot vacuum cleaner, and its own'Upcycling' program that considers sustainability also left a deep impression. Samsung has won a total of 4 categories including 44 Best of Innovation at this CES, solidifying its position on the global stage.
<Main products of Samsung's CES 2021 digital exhibition>
Source: CES 2021 Digital Exhibition Center (http://digital.ces.tech/), Samsung's Showcase Gallery
In the case of LG, which presented the exhibition theme of'Life is ON – Make Yourself @Home', the two anchors provided various digital contents including'Life is ON News', which proceeds like real live news, delighting the eyes and ears of visitors. In addition to the latest technology'OLED evo' and'QNED' TVs,'InstaView Door-in-Door', a refrigerator with UV water purifier sterilization effect,'WashTower' with washing machine and dryer in one, and'CineBeam' projector that provides 4K UHD image quality. Major products such as'Laser 4K' and'CLOi UV-C Robot', a commercial and household robot sterilizer, were all introduced in the form of news, providing a vivid sense of reality, which minimizes the limitations of online exhibitions while maximizing realism and friendliness. It is analyzed to have given. At the beginning and end of the press conference video, which was also impressive,'Rollable', a smartphone that grows in the size of a small tablet, was slightly exposed, attracting the attention of visitors, and it received great attention by suggesting that the release was soon.
Source: CES 2021 Digital Exhibition Center (http://digital.ces.tech/), LG's Showcase Gallery and keynote video
Online stage of our companies that cannot be missed
It was very nice to see a number of Korean company names besides Samsung and LG in the list of participating companies. Among them, GS Caltex, which is well known as a gas station brand in Korea, was particularly noticeable. At this CES, GS Caltex introduced a new gas station concept as a next-generation energy hub. As a station that not only distributes and delivers items for drones, but also charges, maintains, and stores drones, as a charging station for electric and hydrogen vehicles, as a smart and convenient unmanned parcel storage box, shared transportation such as electric scooters and small electric vehicles. As a Sudan hub, as a drone air taxi platform, the showcase of GS Caltex, which showed the possibility that the gas station that always exists around us can be transformed like this, was very fresh and impressive. In addition, AMOREPACIFIC, which introduced a system that can combine the textures and colors of color makeup products as desired, and a beauty device that can create personalized toners on the fly, is using car steering technology that operates only with an electrical signal through a wire without a mechanical connection. The showcase of Mando was also interesting.
<(From left) Showcase of GS Caltex, Amorepacific, and Mando>
Source: CES 2021 Digital Exhibition Center (http://digital.ces.tech/), each company's Showcase Gallery
This year's Korea Pavilion, organized by KOTRA, Korea Electronic Information and Communication Industry Promotion Association (KEA), Changwon Industry Promotion Agency, Gyeonggi Economic and Scientific Promotion Agency (GBSA), and Ulsan Regional Headquarters of Korea International Trade Association (KITA), is also a'digital exhibition' to be experienced for the first time. It took a meaningful step in participation. Petpuls Lab, a Korean company that participated in the Korean Pavilion, won the CES 2021 Innovation Award (Honoree) for'Petpuls', a smart wearable device for dogs with AI technology. Our SMEs and startups were also impressed with their names on the list of innovation award winners. In addition, the participation of start-up companies was remarkable, and out of a total of 341 Korean participating companies, a whopping 126 were classified as'start-ups'. These start-up companies were also composed of separate pavilions called'K-Startup' and attracted attention.
<The appearance of the Korea Pavilion and K-Startup digital exhibition hall>
Source: CES 2021 Digital Exhibition Center (http://digital.ces.tech/), Korea Pavilion and K-Startup Digital Exhibition Center
'All-digital' CES, what are the significance and implications?
This CES was the first all-digital show in the history of the event. This was certainly a fairly new challenge, and it could be evaluated as a clearly meaningful attempt in that it secured the safety of both participating companies and visitors even in the difficult conditions of a pandemic and presented a place for online exchange. However, there is also a clear limit to the'digital exhibition' that the organizers, participating companies, and visitors all experience for the first time.
According to interviews with participating companies and officials at the Korean Pavilion, first of all, it seems that exchanges with visitors through the digital CES platform were not smooth. In the CES digital exhibition hall, you can send a message to the person in charge of related companies and request a meeting, but it is believed that there was a difficulty in actually leading to a conversation or meeting. In addition, it is true that there was a lack of exciting realism. In the traditional offline exhibition site, there was the excitement of discovering new products and technologies directly, even if they were not of particular interest, but it was difficult to expect them from online exhibitions. It is an opinion that these limitations of product promotion and exposure are particularly difficult for small companies with low awareness. For foreign participating companies including Korean companies, the time difference was also an area to bear. We hope next year that the momentum of the pandemic will drop and we can welcome CES in Las Vegas, but the digital CES, which was first attempted this year, will need to be supplemented in many aspects.
Despite the various trials and errors and limitations discussed above, CES is still evaluated as a key event leading the global technology industry trend. In particular, in the same period of time as we are experiencing a global pandemic, the importance of'technology' and'innovation' is growing even more and more regardless of specific industries and fields. "Innovation has no boundaries," said Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, in his keynote address, adding that any company is now a'digital company'. As proof of this, this CES showed a glimpse of new attempts and digitization in various industries and fields that are not limited to the technology industry. In addition, CTA CEO Gary Shapiro said, “Technology is a tool for us to become smarter, safer, healthier, and happier. It's time to do it, and technology will make this change possible.” As such, the role of'technology' in our lives is expected to increase gradually, and the industry needs to keep an eye on the big trend of technology presented by CES in the future.
Source: CES 2021 official website and Digital Venue, digital exhibition halls of each company, and other data from KOTRA Los Angeles Trade Center