2026 Consumer Electronics Show Preview: smartphones, AI in devices/appliances and advanced semiconductor chips
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.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
- 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
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
References:
https://spectrum.ieee.org/ces-2026-preview
https://www.cnet.com/tech/ces-2026-preview-expectations/
Research & Markets: WiFi 6E and WiFi 7 Chipset Market Report; Independent Analysis
Custom AI Chips: Powering the next wave of Intelligent Computing
Nvidia’s networking solutions give it an edge over competitive AI chip makers
Superclusters of Nvidia GPU/AI chips combined with end-to-end network platforms to create next generation data centers
Networking chips and modules for AI data centers: Infiniband, Ultra Ethernet, Optical Connections
Huawei to Double Output of Ascend AI chips in 2026; OpenAI orders HBM chips from SK Hynix & Samsung for Stargate UAE project
OpenAI and Broadcom in $10B deal to make custom AI chips
U.S. export controls on Nvidia H20 AI chips enables Huawei’s 910C GPU to be favored by AI tech giants in China
Technavio: Silicon Photonics market estimated to grow at ~25% CAGR from 2024-2028
LG Electronics demos “6G” power amplifier and adaptive beamforming technology at South Korea trade show
Huawei to compete in global consumer electronics market with world’s first “5G” TV
3 thoughts on “2026 Consumer Electronics Show Preview: smartphones, AI in devices/appliances and advanced semiconductor chips”
Leave a Reply
I really appreciate new consumer electronics products because they solves real problems and creates new opportunities for growth, learning, and communications worldwide. A great example is Micro RGB -a new technology that’s similar to Mini LED, though it uses red, green and blue LEDs instead of white backlights. Contrast ratios aren’t quite as high as those on Micro LED and OLED displays, since the pixels can’t be turned on and off individually. However, Micro RGB units are said to be brighter and more color accurate than TVs that use other display tech, in part because the LEDs in these screens offer smaller, more customizable dimming zones. Samsung will start offering Micro RGB TVs in 55-, 65- and 75-inch sizes. There are also 85-, 100- and 115-inch models on the way.
https://www.engadget.com/general/everything-announced-at-ces-2026-130124802.html
Telit Cinterion, an end-to-end IoT solutions enabler, will unveil its latest innovations at CES 2026, presenting technologies and solutions that transform industrial automation, mining, and edge computing.
Telit Cinterion will be presenting:
Nokia Cognitive Digital Mining Demo – Featuring the Nokia Black Box, an AI-embedded, multi-connectivity mission-critical networking and computing device designed for heavy industry. Integrated with multiple Telit Cinterion advanced modules and an NVIDIA’s GPU, the Black Box anchors the Cognitive Digital Mine (CDM) platform, enabling real-time edge intelligence and SLA driven multi-access networking in mining operations.
Powerful 5G connectivity – Enabling smarter deployments and supporting next-generation IoT applications with speed, reliability, and scalability
deviceWISE® Visual Intelligence Demo – Leveraging NVIDIA AI infrastructure—including NVIDIA Metropolis VSS blueprint, NIM microservices such as Cosmos Reason vision language model, TAO fine-tuning, and DGX Spark—this solution delivers real-time AI for industrial automation, computer vision, and edge intelligence, all running locally for maximum performance and flexibility
Cutting-edge IoT solutions – Designed for scalability and security, helping enterprises accelerate digital transformation across industries
In addition to these demos, Telit Cinterion will highlight its broad IoT portfolio, which includes enterprise-grade wireless modules, secure global connectivity services, and edge-to-cloud orchestration platforms. These solutions enable OEMs and enterprises to reduce time to market, simplify global deployments, and build scalable, future-ready IoT ecosystems.
“CES is where innovation meets opportunity,” said Martin Krona, President Services and Solutions at Telit Cinterion. “Our demos show how AI, 5G, and edge intelligence can transform operations—from mining to manufacturing—while delivering the security and scalability enterprises need to thrive.”
About Telit Cinterion
Telit Cinterion is a global end-to-end IoT enabler providing complete solutions that reduce time to market and costs, delivering custom designed, ready for market connected devices in addition to maintaining the industry’s broadest portfolio of enterprise-grade wireless communication and positioning modules, cellular MVNO connectivity plans and management services, edge-cloud software and data orchestration, and IoT and Industrial IoT platforms. As the largest western provider pioneering IoT innovation, Telit Cinterion delivers award-winning and highly secure IoT solutions, modules and services for the industry’s top brands.
MediaTek this week introduced the Filogic 8000 family at CES 2026, promising to enhance a variety of AI-driven products and applications and deliver ultra-high reliability across a diverse array of product categories, including gateways and clients. The chip company has long been positioning Wi-Fi 8, or IEEE 802.11bn, as offering more than faster speeds; instead, the company sees the upcoming generation as being about intelligence, reliability, efficiency, and better real-world performance.
“User experience is key,” James Chen, vice president of product technology and marketing at MediaTek, previously told RCR Wireless News. “In this day and age of real-time and latency-sensitive applications highlighted by more Agentic AI, responsiveness, reliability, and always-on connectivity mean more than another 1 or 2 Gbps of speed increases. You can continuously increase the horsepower of an engine, but if it can’t translate that speed to the ground, then it’s of limited use. That’s the focus of Wi-Fi 8, putting Wi-Fi to better use.”
MediaTek’s Wi-Fi 8 demonstrations at CES 2026 reflect growing demand for more reliable wireless connectivity as AI-driven and latency-sensitive applications expand. The company’s Filogic 8000 series targets this shift by supporting both gateways and client devices, extending an innovation cadence established during the Wi-Fi 7 cycle.
“MediaTek’s Wi-Fi 8 platform solutions are built on top of and further extends our Wi-Fi 7 Filogic architecture, such as our single-chip MLO. By doing so, we can provide stability, software reuse, and a faster time to market for our customers across broadband, enterprise, consumer, and other market segments.”
Wi-Fi 8, explained the company, is “engineered specifically” to meet the requirements of our AI future by delivering reliable connectivity and low-latency responsiveness for demanding scenarios. It added that Wi-Fi 8 also promises better bandwidth, improved power efficiency, and optimized connectivity.
Standout Wi-Fi 8 enhancements span coordination across access points, spectrum efficiency and coexistence, coverage and range, and latency optimization. These include: Multi-AP coordination (MAPC) features like Coordinated Beamforming (Co-BF), Coordinated Spatial Reuse (Co-SR), and Multi-AP Scheduling (MAP); spectrum efficiency and coexistence improvements with technologies such as Dynamic Subband Operation (DSO) Non-Primary Channel Access (NPCA), and In-Device Coexistence (IDC); better coverage and range thanks to Enhanced Long Range (ELR) and Distributed-Tone Resource Unit (dRU); and latency and reliability optimization features like smarter data rate adaptation and Aggregated PPDU (APPDU).
The MediaTek Filogic 8000 series of products will cater to premium and flagship devices leveraging Wi-Fi 8 technology, with the first chipset expected to reach customers later this year. The company is working alongside partners including Deutsche Telekom, Airties, SoftAtHome, Zyxel, and others.
Official ratification of IEEE 802.11bn is expected around 2028, and the ecosystem is already mobilizing. Chipset vendors plan to begin sampling pre-standard silicon as early as 2026, followed by prototype devices and enterprise-grade access points. Consumer devices — including routers, laptops, smartphones, and IoT sensors — will likely incorporate Wi-Fi 8 closer to the end of the decade as it becomes standard across flagship platforms.
https://www.rcrwireless.com/20260105/network-infrastructure/wi-fi/mediatek