CES 2020 got in just under the wire, ahead of COVID-19 reaching true international pandemic levels. And until today, the show’s governing body, the CTA, was planning to keep its record unbroken. Today, however, CEO Gary Shapiro announced via video that the Las Vegas event has been canceled. Instead, CES 2021 will follow the lead of the rest of the industry as an online-only event.
Big news
CES 2021 is going all-digital! Get ready for a new immersive experience where you’ll have a front row seat to the action https://t.co/IzmHDpIu1Y
— CES (@CES) July 28, 2020
The news won’t come as a surprise to anyone following the industry. Even January 2021 seems like an extremely optimistic timeline, social distancing measures or no. While Berlin’s IFA still plans to go forward this year, all other big tech shows have been canceled or gone all digital for the foreseeable future.
“We concluded it is simply not possible to safely gather over 100,000 people indoors with a raging COVID-19 virus and no real hope for a tested and widely available vaccine by January,” Shapiro writes in a post on LinkedIn. “The world does not need more COVID-19 cases, and we decided we would do our part by ensuring we are not helping spread the disease.”
In addition to hosting a huge number of people in an indoor venue, the international nature of the event makes it a prime vector for the continued spread of COVID-19. Not to mention the fact that the United States continues to lead the world in cases, by far.
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