I decided this year not to go to CES for a variety of reasons, good and bad. CES was for me a singular place to see new technology coming in our lighting industry from the consumer electronics side (LEDs, OLEDs, Qdot LEDs, displays, holographic optical systems, lasers…), and also from OEMs with a super huge interest in lighting technology.
For a while, CES was almost turning into its own auto show. over the last few years, though, fewer and fewer OEMs have been part of the show, and CES has shifted back towards being a tech show with focus on consumer electronics. That includes the automotive industry, but mostly the connectivity, ADAS, and software businesses. Nevertheless, it is still super interesting to see how our world is changing so fast, especially with robotics and AI booming. 10 years ago, all the major vehicle lighting players were part of the show. Now we still saw the big ones – like Koito and Valeo, the two leaders – with great big booths, while others are not there anymore. At least not with a booth, though they are still there as visitors.
CES is not only technology, CES is connection, CES is discussion. This is one of the top events to meet C-suite people from all over the world.
That is why we were there, and why we provide our three-part DVN CES Report on vehicle lighting, interiors, and ADAS presented at the show.
What are the other reasons? Well, the Brussels Auto has replaced the Geneve one, so most of the European OEMs are in Brussels to start the year. Photonics West is just two weeks after CES, with a high interest for lighting community – lighting is electronics, but also optics and photonics. And also because we have to prepare for our DVN event which starts tomorrow.
This week I continued interviews with participants (Sunex, SL Corporation, and Saint-Gobain). I visited Sunex in November just after DVN Shanghai. Super interesting to understand a bit more the complexity of HD optical lenses. I had the chance to meet SL CEO Sungyup Lee in Korea the week after my trip to Shanghai, to exchange about their business and his vision about the market, with a great interview we bring you this week. And finally, there’s my visit last week to Saint-Gobain in France to know more about the new lit panoramic roofs which are coming in our cars.
Sincerely yours,
