Several Companies Cancel In-Person CES Plans
Several major companies have cancelled plans to send staff to CES 2022 in person in light of the highly contagious omicron variant of COVID-19 that already represents a majority of new cases in the U.S.
Among the companies that have pulled out of attending CES physically so far: Amazon, T-Mobile, Twitter, Facebook parent company Meta and Pinterest, according to multiple reports.
“While we are confident that CES organizers are taking exhaustive measures to protect in-person attendees and we had many preventative practices in place as well, we are prioritizing the safety of our team and other attendees with this decision,” T-Mobile said in a statement.
Bloomberg reported that AMD and Samsung plan to attend CES in a limited capacity while Qualcomm, OnePlus and HTC also plan to still have a presence. On the other hand, Sony, Samsung and Google are “monitoring local conditions,” according to the publication.
Before omicron became a concern, the Consumer Technology Association, which organizes CES, had already made proof of vaccination and wearing masks a requirement. The organization released additional guidance on Monday, saying that attendees should take a COVID-19 test before leaving for Las Vegas and take additional tests before entering CES venues.
