Intel will drastically reduce its presence at CES 2022, closing its booth and reducing the number of employees on hand. Its activities in the future will be entirely digital.
“The health and safety of our employees, partners, and customers is always a top priority,” Intel told Tom’s Hardware. “After consulting with health officials and in the spirit of Intel’s safety policy, our plans for CES will move to a digital-first, live experience, with minimal on-site staff. We encourage you to join us as we deliver all our CES content and experiences virtually via the Intel Newsroom.”
A press conference with Gregory Bryant, executive vice president, and manager of the client computing business, and Amnon Shashua, the founder of MobilEye, is scheduled for Jan. 4 in the Mandalay Bay hotel ahead of the show. However, it, as well as a separate MobilEye deep dive, already featured a streaming option.
“We will not have a booth at CES this year,” an Intel spokesperson told us. “The number of employees attending in-person will be greatly minimized to include only those critical to support Intel’s digital-first, live experience. In-person support for CES is opt-in for the small team on-site.”
The shift, according to the business, is due to monitoring the Omicron form of COVID-19 rather than the Consumer Technology Association’s requirements (the CTA organizes CES). Intel is always a large presence at CES, as it supports several firms that use its chips in computers and other technology. It did not rent out the usual huge booth space in the Las Vegas Convention Center before withdrawing from the show this year.
Amazon, T-Mobile, Lenovo, AT&T, Waymo, Facebook parent Meta, and other exhibitors have decided not to attend the show in person or have drastically reduced their operations in recent days. Many media outlets have chosen to cover the show virtually, including Tom’s Hardware, TechRadar, Engadget, Gizmodo, and PCMag.
CES had hoped to return to Las Vegas this year with an in-person conference following a virtual show in 2021, but a rapid increase in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta and Omicron variants is dampening some of the excitement. Currently, the show is set to run from January 5 to January 8, 2022.
A photo released Oct. 8, 2018, shows a 9th Gen Intel Core processor packages. The processor family is optimized for gaming. (Source: Intel Corporation)
CES organizers are requiring immunizations and recommended testing for in-person participants. At select badge collection locations, the corporation will conduct rapid exams for attendees.
The chip scarcity is prompting more cancellations than COVID-19, according to Gary Shapiro, the chairman of the Consumer Technology Association, which oversees CES, who told the Associated Press earlier this week. However, most companies have cited health issues as the reason for their cancellation.
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