The 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, NV, in the first week of January each year, is one of the largest and most significant tech trade shows in the world. It’s attended by all the major, established tech companies, as well as numerous up-and-coming companies from around the world. The show floor officially opens on Tuesday, January 6th, for four days, but companies have already started making announcements. LG’s CLOiD is a laundry-folding, milk-fetching home robot, SwitchBot’s AI-powered Obboto lamp looks like a desktop version of the Las Vegas Sphere, the wooden Mui Board adds sleep tracking, and Clicks’ new Communicator is a smartphone alternative that reminds us of a classic BlackBerry.  Watch for more smartphone announcements from the likes of Samsung, LG, and Motorola – infused with AI, of course.

• Samsung Galaxy Z TriFold: Samsung is expected to use CES 2026 to bring its first tri-folding smartphone, the Galaxy Z TriFold, to the US market and provide hands-on demonstrations. This device folds into a large 10-inch, tablet-sized display using two hinges.
• New Motorola Foldable: Motorola is anticipated to unveil a new book-style foldable phone, distinct from its existing clamshell Razr models. Physical invites sent to the media suggest it may feature a unique wood finish.
• AI Integration: Artificial intelligence will be a dominant theme, integrated into new laptops and home appliances, and is expected to be a core feature of the new foldable phones, enhancing user experiences and functionality. Samsung has framed its entire CES presence around a “unified AI approach” across its devices.
• Advanced Display Concepts: Beyond immediate product launches, Samsung Display is likely to showcase experimental and futuristic display panels, which often preview technologies that will appear in consumer devices in the coming years, such as wider aspect ratio foldables and potentially holographic displays.
• Smart Glasses and Wearables: Though not strictly phones, AI-powered smart glasses and other wearables are expected to have a significant presence at the show, building on their modest comeback in 2025. 

Photo credit: James Martin/CNET

Major smartphone manufacturers like Apple typically host their own separate launch events and do not make major announcements at CES. The focus at CES is generally on innovative form factors, new technologies, and general tech trends rather than mainstream flagship phone releases.

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• AI Accelerators: Updates are anticipated on the next-generation Instinct MI400 series, designed to compete with Nvidia in the AI training segment.
• Consumer CPUs/APUs: Expect showcases of the new Ryzen AI 400 “Gorgon Point” APUs for laptops and a refresh of Zen 5 X3D desktop CPUs (specifically the Ryzen7 9850X3D and
  Ryzen 9 9950X3D).
• Data Center/Server: AMD may provide updates on its next-generation Zen 6 “Venice” EPYC CPUs  for the data center market.
• GPUs: No new consumer discrete GPU launches (Radeon RX 9000 series) are expected at this show, with the focus remaining on existing RDNA 4 models and integrated graphics. 

• Consumer Processors: Intel will highlight its upcoming “Panther Lake” (Core Ultra Series 3) chips, its first processors using the highly anticipated 18A manufacturing process. These chips will power new laptops and PCs demonstrated by partners like Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung.
• GPUs: Details are expected on the “Crescent Island” Xe3 discrete GPU, positioned as a cost-effective option for inference workloads, and potentially the mid-tier Arc B770 “Battlemage” GPU.

• AI Hardware: The focus will likely be on next-generation AI accelerators beyond the current Blackwell architecture, data center roadmaps, and the company’s push into “physical AI” systems like robotics and self-driving cars.
• Consumer GPUs: No new high-end consumer GPU launches (RTX 50 series) are expected at CES, as these are typically reserved for separate events like Nvidia’s GTC conference. 

• PC Processors: The company is expected to showcase laptops featuring its Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Elite Extreme chips, emphasizing their performance and power efficiency for AI PCs.

• Samsung Electronics is hosting “The First Look” event to unveil its vision for AI-driven customer experiences across its device ecosystem.
• Visual Semiconductor will showcase its “glasses-free 3D” (GF3D) display technology for both large home displays and smartphones.
• The overall theme of CES 2026 across all companies is the pervasive integration of AI into consumer and industrial devices, from wearables and robots to enterprise machines

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References:

https://spectrum.ieee.org/ces-2026-preview

https://www.cnet.com/tech/ces-2026-preview-expectations/

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