CES2014: They probably wished they’d gotten the smaller booth

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There’s an art to choosing your booth at CES. Too small and your customers can’t get to you. On the other hand, here are some examples of companies that probably should have rethought their positions. It proves that all fame is fleeting… for once upon a time every one of these companies were “the hit” of CES.

Before you start asking, these pictures were all taken about 90 minutes after the show floor opened and there were plenty of other booths that were jam-packed. 

The top image is the Intel booth, probably the saddest of the show. Intel had plenty of breathing room in their giant booth at the entrance to South Hall, even though they dispatched attractive young people who were literally begging people to come in, like “Please, I promise it won’t take much time.” Remember when the world hung on Intel’s every word?

While LG, Samsung, and Sony were shoulder-to-shoulder with people coming in and out, Panasonic’s huge booth seemed like a quiet retreat. Most people seemed interested in seeing the Tesla they had parked in front, not anything else.

Monster Cable had a huge section of their booth utterly empty. People were using it as a quiet place to make phone calls. In fairness there was some interest in the other part of their booth where they were letting people sit in their Lamborghini. Did that really help anything?

Oh, oh, oh, Casio. Every geek over 40 remembers wanting (and probably owning) one of your products. Most of them would be surprised to know you’re still in business, with a medium-sized booth utterly devoid of traffic.

Remember, if this had been the 1994 Consumer Electronics Show, you would have seen mobs around these manufacturers, especially Intel. The world has changed, as you see, but these former tech titans haven’t. Come on guys, it’s time to realize that people come to the show to see other things, not you, and maybe save $10k with a smaller booth.

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.