Associated Press reported that the decision is due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has nothing to do with US politics but is in line with the values and policy of the trade group Consumer Technology Association, which is the producer of CES, the largest technological convention in the world.

Only One Russian Company Has Been Affected So Far

According to information from the Consumer Technology Association, 3,000 companies are going to attend this year’s event, which will take place at the Las Vegas Convention center. 

Kinsey Fabrizio, senior vice president at the trade group Consumer Technology Association, has noted that among the usual big guns such as Amazon and Meta, there will be a lot of startups taking part. The event is not open to the public, only companies from the industry and media representatives can attend.

This year’s convention will host a wide range of firms that will display their innovative technological developments in the fields of VR, AI, consumer technologies, robotics, and much more.

An Association spokesperson has noted that the decision to not allow Russian companies to exhibit their products this year has affected only one Russian company that requested to be part of the event. 

The CES event from last year did not host any Russian companies as no one applied to attend. In 2021, when the event was entirely virtual due to COVID restrictions, four Russian companies participated. 

In an earlier interview for the BBC, Consumer Technology Association president and CEO Gary Shapiro called the Russian invasion of Ukraine a “tragic and illegal assault on the people and independent nation of Ukraine”. 

In connection with the decision to ban Russian companies from CES 2023 altogether, he said that the Association did not see their attendance as appropriate considering the raging war. Shapiro further elaborated that Ukrainian technological companies are going to attend the event and present their products. He further added that a lot of people across the whole world are trying to support Ukrainians by buying products that Ukrainian companies produce.

Organizers Hope for Pre-Pandemic Attendance Rates

CES 2023 organizer Consumer Technology Association has high hopes that this year’s event will come back to its pre-pandemic glory. The trade group is expecting an attendance of about 100,000 people. 

Last year, the convention suffered a 70% decrease in people attending in person as the then-latest COVID variant, the Omicron, had its boom. In 2021, the entire event was held online due to COVID restrictions, and the product presentations and meetings were done through virtual chat rooms and video streams. 

In case, CES organizers’ forecast for CES 2023 is fulfilled, the attendance rate will still present a 41% decrease in comparison to the people that were part of the CES 2020, which took place before the pandemic hit.