2022.01.11

CES 2022 – sustainability in focus at trade show colored by the pandemic

2022 began with CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas. Here, APPLiAnytt, which chose to visit the digital trade fair this year, briefly summarizes what the four member companies Bosch, Hisense, Procter & Gamble and Samsung chose to focus on during the trade fair.

Last year, CES was a completely digital trade show, but this year the trade show took place on site in Las Vegas on January 5-7 (at the eleventh hour it was announced that the trade show would be shortened by one day) and parts of the trade show – for example, many of the press conferences – were streamed, so that people could participate remotely.

The 2,300 exhibiting companies were visited by just over 40,000 people (which is about a quarter compared to a normal year), of which 30 percent were international visitors from 119 countries.

Hisense

At Hisense's virtual press conference during CES, David VanderWaal, Vice President of Marketing for the Americas, set the tone for the show by sharing that 400 years ago, a Chinese poet (Nalan-Xingde) wrote:”Sometimes we don't know what we have until it's gone” – a fitting quote in times of pandemic.

David VanderWaal said Hisense Group has grown during the pandemic, with sales of $27 billion in 2021, an increase of just over 20 percent (Hisense overseas accounted for $10.8 billion of sales and increased by 30 percent). The company sold 30 million display products last year and is #1 in TVs in China, Japan, Australia and South Africa. On the appliance side, Hisense is #1 in China in refrigerator/freezer exports, and Gorenje is #1 in refrigerator/freezers in the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia.

This year, Hisense will build three new ”Connect Life Experience Centers” – in the US, Europe and China – with Smart Home Appliances such as refrigerators/freezers, dishwashers and wine coolers, said David VanderWaal, explaining that the Connect Life platform enables fully integrated smart homes and kitchens.

Bosch

Bosch kicked off its virtual press conference at CES with new video commercials titled ”High-tech #LikeABosch” about using high-tech to improve people’s lives, everywhere.

Tanja Rückert, Bosch Chief Digital Officer, said that the company recently conducted a major survey in the UK, Germany, the US, India and China – called Tech Compass – in which 72 percent said that technology is making the world a better place. Other findings from the survey included that 76 percent believe that technological progress is key to combating climate change, and four out of five said that success depends on building trust. Tanja said that Bosch, in February 2020, was the first major industrial company to achieve its goal of becoming carbon neutral, and that they are now working to reduce emissions across the entire value chain.

Tanja further explained that Bosch is a ”Software + IoT” company, with 35,000 software developers (out of a total of 395,000 employees), and that 100 percent of the company’s electrical product categories are now connected. In 2020, Bosch sold four million connected products for the home (tools and household products) and in 2021 the number grew to six million, i.e. 50 percent more. By 2025, all Bosch products will be equipped with AI or manufactured with the help of AI, said Tanja Rückert, and mentioned as an existing example the Home Connect Fridge – which can identify contents, suggest recipes and reduce food waste.

”We believe that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) are the best ways to deliver real added value. We are systematically digitizing our core business to increase the benefit for our customers. Going forward, we also strive to convert the sale of every digital product into service-based revenue,”, says Tanja Rückert.

An example of a product that can help significantly reduce global carbon emissions is the Dryad Silvanet Wildfire Sensor, which features Bosch's new gas sensor (the first on the market with AI) that helps detect wildfires and wirelessly notifies local authorities, long before camera- or satellite-based systems.

Mike Mansuetti, Bosch President in North America, said that forest fires account for 20 percent of the Earth's carbon dioxide emissions each year, which is more than all forms of transportation (car, plane and boat).

”The sensors will be able to save lives and homes, while preventing large amounts of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. All thanks to the combination of AI and the Internet of Things.”", says Mike Mansuetti.

Samsung

During Samsung's Keynote at CES 2022, titled "Together for tomorrow", JH Han, Vice Chairman and CEO of Samsung, spoke about sustainability, recycling and the environment, among other things. He said that last year Samsung reduced its carbon dioxide emissions in production by 700,000 tons and that last year it used 30 times more recycled plastic in displays compared to the previous year. By 2025, recycled materials will be used in the production of all products in the mobile and home appliances categories.

Faster packaging production, and a greater proportion of recycled products, also contribute to reduced carbon emissions – and even a small, small improvement in this regard becomes significant if you, like Samsung, manufacture 500 million products annually. He also mentioned the company's Eco Remote, which is being further developed to be charged not only by indoor light but also by radio waves (such as the home's wireless network), and also pointed out that Samsung has chosen to make the technology open and available to other manufacturers – to reduce the amount of batteries in the world.

Samsung also talked about its collaboration with clothing brand Patagonia, where they are now working on developing filters in washing machines that will be able to filter out the microplastics that otherwise end up in the oceans. Another news that was mentioned was that Bespoke (where the customer can choose from different colors) is being expanded in two ways, firstly with new fridge/freezers (”French Door” with three or four doors) and secondly with washing machines and dryers and stick vacuum cleaners.

Mark Benson, Head of Products & Engineering SmartThings, said that more than two-thirds of all homes in the US are equipped with some form of smart home product, and that we are now beginning to understand what a connected home can mean. Mark Benson introduced the Home Connectivity Alliance (HCA), which was launched during CES in collaboration with Electrolux, Haier, GE Appliances, Arçelik, Trane and American Standard Heating & Air Conditioning. HCA, which is a member-driven organization, was founded to promote innovation and provide consumers with safe, interoperable devices in their connected homes, according to the organization’s website Homeconnectivityalliance.org.

Procter & Gamble

At Procter & Gamble's virtual press conference at CES, Chief Brand Officer Marc Pritchard guided through all the brands and products, and the company also launched a metaverse called BeautySPHERE, where you can virtually interact with other people as well as a variety of beauty products from Procter & Gamble's various brands.

At CES two years ago, Oral-B launched its new iO series of electric toothbrushes, the result of six years of research and development (including more than 250 patents), which combine oscillating, rotating movements with microvibrations. The Oral-B iO 6, 7, 8 and 9 are currently on the market – and during CES 2022, Alita Vegas, Senior VP Global Oral Care, announced that they are now expanding the series with the launch of the new flagship iO 10 as well as the iO 4 and 5.

Mariana McQuattie, Senior VP Grooming North America, introduced two new products from Gillette – GilletteLabs with Exfoliating Bar and GilletteLabs Bugatti Special Edition Heated Razor.

Ola Larsson