World’s biggest tech trade show struggles to stay sharp in cut-throat business

THE world’s biggest technology trade show will feature razor-thin laptops, powerful smartphones and flat-screen TVs, but talk in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) halls, which kicked off last night, may focus on whether the show itself has a long-term future.

Apple, which has set the consumer electronics agenda for the past decade, does not even attend the show. Microsoft Corp, desperately trying to catch up, is making this show its last. It has been a few years since Las Vegas-based CES had the “wow” factor.

“There’s a lot of hype. The promise exceeds the deliverable a lot,” said Todd Lowenstein, portfolio manager at HighMark Capital Management. “I take an interest in it only to the extent that there’s market-moving information that comes out of there, which I find is rare.”