7 of the best new gadgets from Shenzhen and Hong Kong at CES
- From 11K cameras to underwater drones, these intriguing innovations at CES all come from China’s Silicon Valley and Hong Kong
- Annual show is still a critically important showcase for Chinese start-ups despite trade tensions
At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week in Las Vegas, almost everything is made in China. But for how long?
Shenzhen-based tech companies have long dominated this major annual consumer tech trade show, but there are significantly fewer there this year than 2018’s record haul of 1,500.
This drop comes amid fears that US tech companies, hit by high tariffs for importing Chinese products, are turning to Taiwan for components.
“There are around 400 fewer companies from Shenzhen at CES this year,” says Jinfeng Huang, chief executive of Shenzhen-based Sleepace. “Part of the reason is the trade war between China and the US, but also because of the economic slowdown in China.”
But the four-day event – which this year runs from January 8 to 11 – remains a critically important global showcase, especially for start-ups.
“It brings together such a large collection of top international press, distributors, influencers, retailers and others together in one place for an entire week,” says Andreas Widy, co-founder and chief executive of Hong Kong-based Navatics, and an engineering graduate from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. “CES allows Chinese companies and brands to have face-to-face interactions with a wide and diverse selection of industry leaders.”