Parks Associates team was at CES 2023, and research analyst Sarah Lee reports back with industry insights and takeaways.

Name 3 interesting things you saw at CES and the company associated with it.

1. Wireless TVs.The LG M3 OLED TV has only a power cord. The Displace wireless television is completely wireless and runs on four batteries. Both televisions use an external box equipped with HDMI and other ports to wirelessly transmit entertainment content. Maybe it isn’t practical or needed yet, but it’s a cool idea.
    
2. Pet Technology.There were a few smart pet collars by Wagz and Invoxia that monitor a variety of health metrics such as temperature, steps, and sleep in addition to geofencing and location tracking. There was also the GluCurve pet continuous glucose monitor which collects blood glucose data for pet diabetes management. With devices that track human health data now commonplace (e.g., smart watches), I expect devoted pet parents to eagerly embrace this technology.
    
3. Speech Enhancing Earbuds.The Jabra Enhance Plus and the Sennheiser Conversation Clear Plus are earbuds that offer hearing and speech enhancement in addition to traditional functionality such as the ability to play music and make phone calls. These products are a great middle-ground for consumers who are generally hard of hearing, frequently find themselves in noisy environments, and/or are not able or willing to purchase hearing aids.

The coolest tech that I saw at CES was the SmartV Solo 3D holographic displays at the HYPERVSN booth. These displays were bright, detailed, eye-catching, and even interactive. HYPERVSN suggests the holograms can be used for entertainment, customer service, education, retail, events, hospitality, etc. to attract attention and increase engagement. Given the crowd around this booth relative to others in the vicinity, I’d say this product succeeds at that claim.

At CES, I was surprised to see that Roku is going to start manufacturing its own smart TVs instead of relying on partners such as Phillips, TCL, and Westinghouse. Roku designing and manufacturing smart TVs in-house means the company has more control over both the hardware and operating system. The HD Roku Select and 4K Roku Plus are aimed to be affordable additions to the current Roku TV lineup. I’m excited to see how Roku can enhance performance and user experience with this transition.

One thing I saw that will impact the market in 2023 isprojectors. Several companies such as XGIMI, HiSense, AWOL, Leica, Formovie, and Samsung were showcasing projectors that display up to 8K video (and in some cases even 3D video) on larger screens without having to worry about the physicality of a television. Projectors offer a variety of benefits over televisions. Projectors are smaller and more portable, the screen size can be adjusted as needed, they can easily be taken outside, and, in some cases, are more affordable. I expect that projectors will become more popular among consumers simply because of their adaptability.

Relevant Parks Associates data includes the rising adoption of connected products in the home. Currently, 63% of internet households in the US have a smart TV.