Chinese tech companies bring smart ideas, products to CES
Source: Shine on January 10, 2018
About 1,500 Chinese tech companies, including industry giants like Baidu and Alibaba as well as startups put their home-grown gadgets on display at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which kicked off Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Holding one-third of all booths, Chinese tech companies are holding a dozen press conferences and have thrilled audiences with a keynote speech by Huawei to promote its latest smart phone.
As the workshop of the world, China is not a newcomer to the consumer electronics industry's largest show, but the country's manufacturers are becoming more innovative.
Gary Shapiro, president of Consumer Technology Association, the show's organizer, cited in Tuesday's opening speech that 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics were underlying forces reshuffling the industrial landscape and bringing substantial lifestyle change.
"The driving themes of 2018, including voice computing, artificial intelligence and connectivity make our lives better and more efficient," Shapiro said.
Chinese companies are not only embracing the "new ecosystem," but also building it.
Lu Qi, Baidu's COO, called it "China's speed" in the company's CES debut press release. He pointed at the speed in which the driverless car could make a field test in China after a fleet of vehicles, including two sedans, a Lincoln SUV, and a motor sweeper, paraded at Baidu's headquarters through a live stream at the conference.
Suning Group, one of the largest home appliances retailers in China, opened a self-service store in Las Vegas. The Nanjing-based retailer has already opened five such stores in China while no such store has ever been put into operation in the United States.
"China has made a quicker start with many experimental programs," Su Ning's Executive Vice President Xiang Jiangxu said.
This year's star is Byton, an electric car unveiled at CES known as China's Tesla. It is expected to be mass produced and sell at US$45,000, making it a real competitor to Tesla.