The Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2021 will be an all-digital affair next year. The event organisers, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), made the announcement official at the start of the week, citing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as the primary cause behind its decision.
The CTA’s decision to move from a traditional, physical event to an all-digital event next year because of the pandemic isn’t surprising, but it should be noted that, prior to this decision, it was still adamant about hosting CES 2021 in person. Instead of going the digital route. As to when things will resume back to normal, the CTA says that CES will revert back to being a physical event the following year in 2022.
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It goes without saying that CES 2021 isn’t the first casualty of the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, the virus has forced many event organisers to shift and adapt their events from a physical gathering to being completely digital. This includes this year’s Blizzard’s BlizzcCon, E3, the Tokyo Game Show, Google’s I/O, and the Game Developers Conference.
Only one tech trade show will continue with its physical gathering, IFA 2020, albeit under strict supervision and prevention guidelines.
(Source: CTA // Image: Getty Images via The Verge)
