CES opens despite omicron surge, major chip shortage

MW CES opens despite omicron surge, major chip shortage

Undaunted by the spread of omicron and a major chip shortage that has hindered the ability of many companies to deliver products, CES kicked off Wednesday morning in Las Vegas. "We know CES will be different... and messy," Gary Shapiro, chief executive of show organizer Consumer Technology Association, said in a keynote speech. "But innovation can be messy." Some 2,300 exhibitors from 19 countries are attending the three-day event, though attendance is expected to be about half of the 170,000 who last gathered for the last in-person CES in 2020. Despite the in-person absence of more than 150 companies that include Intel Corp. $(INTC)$, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. $(AMD)$, AT&T Inc. $(T)$, Nvidia Corp. $(NVDA)$, Qualcomm Inc. $(QCOM)$, International Business Machines Corp. $(IBM)$, Google parent Alphabet Inc. $(GOOGL)$(GOOGL), Meta Platforms Inc. (FB), Microsoft Corp. $(MSFT)$, HP Inc. $(HPQ)$ and others, Shapiro hailed the inclusion of food tech, space tech, and NFT companies. The show ends Friday. General Motors Co. $(GM)$ CEO Mary Barra was to deliver a keynote address, remotely, from Detroit.

-Jon Swartz

$(END)$ Dow Jones Newswires

January 05, 2022 12:55 ET (17:55 GMT)

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