"Professor Jeong Jae-seung's Sharp Critique: Korean Companies Flocking to CES Due to Lack of Vision"

Korean Companies at CES This Year Rank 3rd Worldwide

The reason why South Korea shows a particularly strong presence at CES, the world's largest information technology (IT) and consumer electronics exhibition held in Las Vegas, USA, is pointed out to be due to a lack of 'tech gurus (GURU - mentors),' drawing significant attention.

Professor Jae-Seung Jeong, head of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the Convergence Talent Department at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), made this claim during a lecture at the 23rd 'Run & Grow Forum' hosted by the Korea Software Industry Association (KOSA) at the Samjung Hotel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. He stated, "This year, South Korea ranks third overall in the number of participating companies and attendees at CES, following the United States and China."

On the 10th (local time), visitors crowded the Korean Pavilion within the 'Eureka Park,' the startup exhibition hall at 'CES 2024,' the world's largest consumer electronics and IT exhibition.
[Photo by Jeong Donghoon]

Professor Jeong said, "Events should be held where the market is," and pointed out, "From the perspective of Samsung and LG, the main buyers are in the United States and Europe, so the impact is incomparable to events held in Korea." He continued, "While major U.S. tech company leaders present visions and milestones about what changes and futures they dream of, no Korean tech company speaks about a vision," criticizing, "It seems there is no vision itself." He added, "Korea focuses on solving problems given by others rather than creating problems, which is why it pays attention to CES."

Professor Jeong also explained why American big tech companies such as Meta, Google, and Apple do not participate in CES, stating, "They consider setting up a booth at CES to be a matter of pride," and argued, "Companies that have the power to attract people to their own platforms and gain attention solely with their own products do not feel the need to participate in CES."

As an example, he explained that this year's CES saw a significant decrease in media and public attention due to the unveiling event of Apple's mixed reality (MR) headset 'Vision Pro,' the first new product in nine years from Apple.

Meanwhile, at CES 2024 held this year, a record high of 772 domestic companies participated. By country, South Korea ranked third after the United States (1,148 companies) and China (1,104 companies).