Preview of 2012 Consumer Electronics Show
<The International Consumer Electronics Show is still three months away, but it’s never too early to talk about the world’s largest technology trade show.
Tablet computers will once again dominate the annual event, held in January, as it did this year, according to Jim Barry, digital answer man for the Consumer Electronics Association.
He says there will be two top themes: tablets and connected (or smart) TVs.
Two questions loom about tablets, Barry says:
1. How big is the market for the gadgets made popular by Apple’s iPad? (About 10 percent of households currently own one, with Apple controlling an estimated 90 percent of the market).
2. How much of Apple’s lead can the other guys cut into? (Amazon announced a 7-inch touchscreen tablet today called the Kindle Fire).
Even though Apple doesn’t exhibit at the show, the iLounge – which features accessories for Apple products – will double in size with about 75,000 square feet of exhibit space.
Barry says e-readers and high-tech cars will also be showcased at the 2012 show. Despite the growing popularity of tablets, sales of e-readers are expected to increase by 100 percent this year compared with 2010 sales.