The Ceatec trade show held in Japan each fall used to be like a preview to what you would see at CES in a few months. The latest in TV technology was always a highlight when Japan dominated in this category. That is not what the show is today.
In TVs, only Sharp had a major booth there and they were focused on showcasing their 8K TV and other ecosystem products and technologies as regular 8K broadcasting will start in Japan in December. No Sharp, no Sony no Toshiba (the TV business now being managed by Hisense) and no Chinese or Korean TV brands exhibited.
So what was being shown in the eight halls? There was a clear focus on AI and sensor technology for the home but also for automotive and IoT applications. We saw a few AR/VR companies and lots of companies offering various electronic components and subsystems for industrial, consumer and commercial use. There was also a section on photonics/optics that featured more component-level devices and technology.
Official attendance at the event was 156K visitors so it has a good turn out, but the focus has shifted to follow what Japan in general is more focused on these days. Very little information and none of the conferences are in English, so this remains a domestically-focused event. And that’s OK.
