CES 2026 features nearly equal numbers of exhibitors from China and the United States, underscoring its increasingly balanced global landscape. China’s growing influence—driven by highly concentrated regional clusters such as the Pearl River Delta—highlights that competition now revolves around systems, scenarios, and industrial ecosystems rather than individual products.
Author: Yiran Xing; Leci Zhang
Key Takeaways:
CES 2026 brought together 4,177 exhibitors from around the world, with a clearly tiered national distribution. The United States and China were closely matched in overall scale, followed by South Korea, which stood out for its high exhibitor density and innovation output. France, Japan, and other European countries formed a stable but more dispersed second tier.
From an industry perspective, AI is no longer a standalone track, but has become the underlying technological core of CES as a whole. It is deeply integrated with hardware carriers such as the Internet of Things, smart homes, and intelligent mobility, driving the show’s shift from a consumer electronics showcase toward industrial and technological integration.
The spatial structure of Chinese exhibitors is highly concentrated. The Pearl River Delta, with Shenzhen at its core, has formed a highly synergistic cluster; the Yangtze River Delta shows multi-node expansion; while other regions remain at an exploratory stage of participation.
On-site observations from EqualOcean’s U.S.-based partners indicate that although the number of exhibitors in the AI and robotics tracks has surged this year, signs of a bubble are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
Many people still habitually view CES as a “U.S.-dominated consumer electronics show,” but by 2026, this perception has clearly fallen behind reality.
Among the 4,177 exhibitors publicly listed worldwide, the scale of participation by the United States and China is nearly on par. South Korea follows closely with an exhibitor density far exceeding expectations, while Europe and Japan together form a stable yet dispersed middle tier. The center of gravity of CES is quietly shifting.
Walking the show floor makes this change even more tangible. English signage, American convention centers, and global media remain the familiar outer shell, but the engineers, product managers, and founders inside the booths are increasingly coming from Shenzhen, Dongguan, Hangzhou, and Shanghai. From Huaqiangbei to Las Vegas, this annual CES feels less like a traditional trade show and more like a “year-end report” placed on a global stage.
01 National Distribution: Tiers and Strategies
From a national perspective, CES 2026 presents a very clear tiered structure.
The United States remains the largest participating country, with 1,325 companies in attendance. This is hardly surprising. As the host country, U.S. companies at CES more often play the role of platform definers and ecosystem organizers. Their exhibits tend to emphasize system-level capabilities built around cloud computing, AI, computing power, software platforms, and industry solutions, rather than individual products.
China ranks second with 1,176 exhibitors, a scale already very close to that of the United States. This alone indicates that CES is increasingly becoming a key global stage for Chinese companies. Brands are using the platform more proactively to present their products, technologies, and visions to international markets. Structurally, Chinese exhibitors span a broad range—from consumer electronics and smart hardware to AI, robotics, and automotive technologies—demonstrating a clear full–industry-chain participation.
South Korea ranks third with 793 exhibitors, a figure that stands out among all countries. This reflects the highly outward-oriented nature of Korea’s technology sector. Korean companies also show high-density participation across multiple technological directions: roughly 60% of CES Innovation Award winners come from South Korea, highlighting global recognition of Korean innovation in AI, robotics, smart living, and digital health. Meanwhile, Samsung C-Lab—Samsung’s innovation incubation program launched in 2012—showcases a concentrated mix of AI, robotics, and health technologies, underscoring the depth and vitality of Korea’s ecosystem in these fields.
From fourth place onward, national differences begin to converge. France (137 exhibitors) and Japan (103 exhibitors) represent the steady presence of mature industrial systems in Europe and East Asia, respectively.
France’s official pavilion at CES emphasizes a “portfolio-style technology narrative”, with AI, health tech, mobility, and digital solutions appearing in parallel, extending further into B2B and industrial applications such as cybersecurity and smart cities. French companies at CES resemble technology suppliers oriented toward industrial clients.
Japanese exhibitors, by contrast, display a dual-track approach. On one track, large corporations present system-level solutions that embed AI directly into business operations and real-world scenarios, rather than abstract concepts. For example, Panasonic’s CES 2026 theme, “The Future We Make,” emphasizes AI-driven solutions and infrastructure capabilities. On the other track, Japan’s outbound innovation channel features space computing (AR/VR/XR), advanced materials, AI, health tech, and entertainment technologies—showcasing strong engineering depth and hard-tech accumulation. Rather than chasing trends, Japanese companies tend to present technologies refined over long development cycles.
Beyond these, a typical “European long-tail structure” becomes apparent. Countries such as Italy (59), Germany (53), the Netherlands (53), Switzerland (32), and the UK (30) each contribute modest numbers, but are highly concentrated in areas like industry, manufacturing, sensors, automotive systems, and precision equipment. These companies are less focused on media buzz and more on securing concrete partnerships and orders.
Some smaller countries with highly concentrated technical identities also stand out. Singapore (36) presents a noticeably more “lifestyle-oriented” technology narrative. Its official pavilion emphasizes AI combined with smart living and health management, prioritizing service-oriented, system-level, and sustainable use cases over raw hardware performance—closer to a “technology-as-a-service” globalization path.
Israel (38) shows an especially focused profile. Most Israeli exhibitors concentrate on intelligent mobility: autonomous driving, EV-related technologies, AI-driven mobility systems, sensors, and safety solutions. Rather than expanding in scale, Israel uses CES to present a modular technology stack readily absorbable by the global automotive and mobility industries.
Overall, the national distribution at CES 2026 is less about sheer numbers and more about divergent technology globalization strategies. Some countries define platforms, others export system capabilities, some specialize in modular technologies, and others use CES as an entry point into the global ecosystem. This is precisely where CES derives its real value for companies going global—not merely showing who is present, but silently revealing how different countries participate in global technology flows.
02 Technology Landscape: AI at the Core, Scenarios as the King
Viewed through the lens of industry distribution, the signal is unmistakable: AI no longer appears as a standalone category, but has permeated nearly every major sector.
Among all exhibitor tags, Artificial Intelligence (1,441) leads by a wide margin, appearing ahead of almost every other category. This does not mean CES is “full of AI companies,” but rather that nearly every company is rewriting its industry narrative through AI. Whether in hardware, software, services, or system solutions, AI has shifted from a selling point to a default assumption.
Following closely are IoT/Sensors (895), Smart Home (869), and Vehicle & Intelligent Mobility (704)—three categories with remarkably similar scale. This convergence reflects a broader trend: AI is rapidly descending from algorithms into the physical world. Sensors provide perception, homes and vehicles provide the carriers, and AI acts as the central nervous system connecting devices and scenarios. CES 2026 is less about showcasing “smarter algorithms” and more about demonstrating systems that can sense and respond to the real world.
The Startup (879) segment also warrants special attention. Nearly equal in size to IoT and smart home, it confirms that CES remains one of the most important global exposure platforms for startups. Yet the startup ecosystem shows clear polarization: at one end are “concept-driven products” optimized for media attention with a single sharp value proposition; at the other are engineering-focused teams targeting concrete scenarios, partnerships, integrators, supply chains, and capital. In this sense, the CES startup zone resembles a mixed marketplace—where spectacle and substance coexist. The key question is not storytelling skill, but whether stories can be grounded in reusable and scalable real-world scenarios.
In the mid-tier lie several representative clusters: Smart Lifestyle (622), Robotics (605), Digital Health (584), Procurement & Manufacturing (415), and Sustainability (404). These are no longer traditional consumer electronics categories, but their balanced scale signals CES’s rapid shift toward an industrial technology exhibition. Robotics and digital health, in particular, are moving from niche frontiers into large-scale application and commercialization discussions.
Further down are scenario-driven industries such as home entertainment and office hardware, retail and e-commerce, smart cities, display technologies, energy transition, gaming and esports, and content entertainment. Their common trait is recombination: display tech serves automotive and XR, energy tech integrates with smart homes and cities, and content industries merge deeply with AI tools.
Taken together, CES 2026 clearly maps the trajectory of the global technology industry: AI as the central core, linking hardware carriers such as IoT, smart homes, and intelligent mobility; fostering a diverse startup ecosystem; enabling industrial applications in smart living and digital health; and ultimately realizing value through scenario recombination. CES has fully transitioned from a consumer electronics showcase to a core platform for industrial technology integration.
03 Regional Structure: Agglomeration and Differentiation
Focusing specifically on Chinese exhibitors at CES 2026 reveals not an “average national expansion,” but a highly concentrated regional division of labor.
The Pearl River Delta dominates with 556 exhibitors, forming the absolute core of China’s presence. This dominance is not driven by a single city, but by a dense, hierarchical urban cluster. Shenzhen alone contributes 385 exhibitors, serving as the central node, while Dongguan (76), Guangzhou (38), Zhongshan (20), Huizhou (19), Foshan (11), and Zhuhai (7) provide stable reinforcement—creating a pattern of a strong core with dense surrounding support.
Yet beneath Shenzhen’s sheer scale, on-the-ground impressions are more complex. Liu Yisui, an EqualOcean U.S.-based partner, observed that although exhibitor numbers in AI and robotics surged, signs of a bubble were hard to ignore. “There were many robotics companies from China, but beyond the top two or three, product homogeneity was severe, and genuine technological breakthroughs were limited.” He also noted that many products delivered strong “stage effects” at booths, but their real-world usefulness remained questionable once removed from the exhibition context. Notably, office-related scenarios increased significantly this year, suggesting companies are seeking more pragmatic deployment paths.
Another critical signal is the subtle shift in U.S. capital sentiment. Conversations with American investors revealed declining enthusiasm for AI concepts and Chinese AI products. For Shenzhen and the broader PRD hardware cohort, the challenge is no longer just technology cycles, but growing geopolitical and capital caution. Concept packaging and hardware stacking alone are insufficient; navigating trust barriers and regulatory constraints is becoming a defining test.
The Yangtze River Delta, with 188 exhibitors, forms the second tier. Its strength lies not in a single dominant city, but in balanced multi-node distribution: Shanghai (45), Hangzhou (38), Ningbo (38), and Suzhou (26) form the backbone, with continued presence from Jinhua, Changzhou, Jiaxing, Nanjing, and Wuxi. This multi-core structure creates a flattened urban network rather than a single-engine model.
In Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (56 exhibitors), Beijing alone accounts for 52, indicating a single-point export pattern rather than regional collaboration. Central and other regions—Wuhan, Hefei, Changsha, Chengdu, Chongqing—appear in smaller numbers, signaling exploratory entry rather than coordinated expansion.
Overall, this “region × city” overlay reflects the true spatial distribution of Chinese companies going global: the PRD as the high-density main battlefield; the YRD as a steadily expanding second pole; Beijing as a selective single-node participant; and other regions in an exploratory phase. By CES 2026, China’s globalization is clearly advancing through regional industrial clusters rather than isolated city breakouts.
About EqualOcean
Since 2018, EqualOcean has been dedicated to tracking and analyzing the global expansion of Chinese enterprises. We welcome contributions from industry professionals to share your expertise and insights. Companies seeking international growth, media exposure, or discussions on overseas strategies are also encouraged to contact us directly.
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