Electronics show seeks to banish blues The 2013 International CES consumer electronics show in Las Vegas this week will seek to banish the blues of 2012, where television shipments fell, a new generation of Windows 8 computers disappointed and the year ended with a 7 per cent fall in holiday-season sales. The annual setting-out of stalls for the industry has already set a record - 1.87m sq ft of exhibition space stretched across this city, up slightly from 1.86m in 2012, as manufacturers pin their hopes for the new year on thousands of products on display for the first time. "I think it's going to be the most innovative and exciting we've had and will be a great upbeat show to start the year," says Gary Shapiro, president of the US organisers - the Consumer Electronics Association. He expects more than 150,000 trade visitors, including 30,000 from abroad. But the show will reflect a shift away from traditionally dominant categories such as the PC, while new devices may no longer be the key to success with consumers, according to analysts. James McQuivey, analyst with Forrester Research, says users are less swayed by hardware features such as bigger screens and brighter pictures. "It's a very bitter pill to swallow for manufacturers, but the device is no longer the centre of the digital universe," he says. "Now consumers" digital relationship is with the platform and content, whether it's iTunes or Google Play or Amazon, and that relationship dictates the devices that interest them." Microsoft has given up both its traditional eve-of-show keynote slot and its convention centre booth, with Paul Jacobs, Qualcomm chief executive, now delivering the keynote speech and his company's presence becoming larger than that of rival chipmaker Intel for the first time. Qualcomm has overtaken Intel in market capitalisation in recent months as investors have noted its leadership in smartphones, a faster growing category than PCs, where shipments declined in 2012. Apple has long ignored the show but reports that it will finally make a serious assault on the TV market in 2013 appear to be galvanising manufacturers into announcing improvements to the interfaces of their smart TV models and greater interaction with smartphones and tablets. UltraHD, a standard that offers four-times the resolution of the current Full HD standard, will be promoted on top-of-the-line TVs, although they are likely to be priced in the $20,000 range. Other technologies expected to be strongly represented at the show include wireless charging, gesture and voice controls, 3D printing, robotics, new in-car interfaces and wearable technology such as smartwatches and health and fitness aids. The NPD research firm reported this month that global TV shipments were expected to have declined 6 per cent in 2012 in tough economic conditions, while Windows US notebook holiday unit sales fell 11 per cent and overall US consumer electronics spending was down 7 per cent at $13.7bn. "The inability of the CE market to find substantial new pockets of revenue looms menacingly over the industry's future," NPD said.