Escalator up to the South Hall entrance of the Las Vegas Convention Center at CES 2012.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
LAS VEGAS — Mobile is supposed to be a hot category in tech, right? You’d never know it looking at the announcements that are slated to start pouring in this week.
Many of the major companies in the mobile industry have opted to skip or limit their presence at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which kicks off tomorrow for the media before officially opening on Tuesday. The announcements that do come out will emerge from lower-tier companies hoping to make more of a name for themselves and their products.
The dearth of wireless-related news at a time when the tech world is going increasingly mobile underscores the dilemmas that a show like CES faces: too many competing conferences, more companies opting to hold their own events, and unfortunate timing after a large wave of product announcements ahead of the holidays. As a result, don’t expect to have your mind blown with the mobile announcements coming out this week.
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“There aren’t really high expectations for lots of big news coming out from CES,” said Daniel Hays, a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers. “CES is an increasingly crowded forum to get your message out. That probably causes some vendors to hold back in making major announcements.”
Apple and Google, authors of the two largest mobile operating systems in the world, have long had minimal to zero presence at CES. Microsoft, which made its big push forWindows Phone 8 in October, held its last keynote address here a year ago. Research In Motion, the other significant mobile operating system, will formally unveil its next-generation BlackBerry 10 operating system at its own event later this month.
Samsung has long had one of the largest presences at CES, but it won’t have much in terms of smartphone or tablet announcements, having already heavily invested in a campaign for itsGalaxy Note 2 and the continued run of its Galaxy S III late last year. The company also pulled out of the CTIA Wireless show last year, opting instead to launch its flagship phone at its own event, much like Apple.
Other traditional mobile heavy hitters, including Google’s Motorola Mobility, Nokia, and HTC, won’t have much to say as well.
The carriers, which in recent years have stepped up their presence at CES, are expected to remain quiet this year. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam has a keynote address scheduled for tomorrow, but the company isn’t expected to make any major wireless announcements, a far cry from the splashy launch of its 4G LTE network two years ago. AT&T, which holds its own developer summit separately from CES but usually offers some mobile news, is likewise expected to remain mum.
T-Mobile USA will hold a press conference and likely talk about its network plans and pending deal with MetroPCS, although actual phone announcements could be slim. Sprint Nextel, still working through its own pending merger with SoftBank, doesn’t have any formal event scheduled.
Mobile World Congress around the corner
Mobile World Congress, based in Barcelona, has always been a major force. And with everything going more mobile, the show has grown even more in prominence and influence over the years. The U.S. carriers, which traditionally opted to skip MWC, are increasingly taking part in that show.
Likewise, a lot of major smartphone and tablet announcements are getting made there, rather than at CES. Asus, for instance, cancelled its press conference at CES, opting to debut its mobile products at MWC in February instead.
While Google isn’t so high on CES, it has had a large presence at MWC over the past few years, including large booths complete with a slide, an array of demonstration booths, and toy claw machine giving away stuffed Android dolls.
Dropped call: Mobile biggies conspicuous by absence at CES
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