By Leon, Edited by Hou Yu

From January 7 to 10, the CES 2025 International Consumer Electronics Show will take place in Las Vegas, USA, akin to the consumer electronics industry's annual grand spectacle.

This year, Chinese tech enterprises remain a dominant force, with over 1,300 exhibitors setting a new record, encompassing PCs, home appliances, wearable devices, display panels, automotive technology, and more.

From exhibitors' previews, it's evident that AI stands as the overarching theme of CES 2025. Since 2023, AIGC technology based on large models has continually evolved, gradually being applied across various sectors. However, consumers' perception of AI remains muted due to its nascent stage in hardware integration, where computing power, model performance, hardware capabilities, and software experience are yet to reach maturity.

Technology evolves incessantly, and AI is still in a phase of quantitative change. During this process, tech enterprises continue to explore AI applications and implementations, aligning with the CES 2025 theme: "Hardware Implementation of AI Technology".

The "Hundred Glasses War" is Upon Us

Last year, Ray-Ban Meta glasses, integrating large AI models for the first time, offered a tangible glimpse into the potential of AI glasses. After a decade of development, smart glasses have long sought to integrate displays onto lenses, resulting in issues like bulkiness and high power consumption. Ray-Ban Meta adopted a different approach, utilizing a regular sunglass design with a camera and AI voice assistant, prioritizing daily wearability before seeking functional alignment.

Following Ray-Ban Meta's global success, Chinese enterprises have also entered the fray. Among them, Baidu's Xiaodu led the way with the launch of Xiaodu AI glasses, equipped with the ERNIE Bot large model and focusing on Chinese AI experiences, set to hit the market in the first half of this year. Domestic internet giants like ByteDance, Tencent, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, and others are also developing glasses products based on large AI models. (See details: Can Xiaodu's AI glasses redefine the market?)

Most of the new smart glasses to be exhibited at CES 2025 come from startups and vertical enterprises. TCL-invested Thundercomm announced it will showcase multiple products during CES, including AI photography glasses and AI+AR waveguide glasses, both equipped with customized large AI models. Mojie Technology will present designs for full-color AR+AI glasses, while DPVR will bring new XR mixed reality and AI glasses. Additionally, XREAL, Vuzix, and other smart glasses manufacturers will also participate.

Surprisingly, computer hardware manufacturer Thunderobot announced it will display three AI glasses products based on different technologies at CES 2025. As a PC hardware manufacturer, Thunderobot has never ventured into the wearable device market before. This high-profile entry, possibly fueled by major shareholder Haier Group, heralds the dawn of the "Hundred Glasses War".

Market research reports indicate that the current global penetration rate of smart glasses is less than 1%, expected to grow to 20% by 2030, translating to over 55 million pairs sold annually. This makes smart glasses the most anticipated personal electronic product after smartphones, attracting internet giants, startups, PC, and even home appliance manufacturers to vie for a share of the AI glasses market.

NVIDIA's RTX 50 Series Graphics Cards Lead the Gaming AI Charge

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang will deliver a keynote speech at CES 2025, exciting global game developers, AI professionals, and gamers alike. This heralds the impending launch of the GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards.

According to leaked information, the RTX 50 series will support new "Neural Rendering," utilizing AI-assisted rendering to generate shading, textures, lighting effects, and more for more realistic and detailed visuals. DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) and ray tracing performance are also expected to be enhanced by AI. In short, AI will be the RTX 50 series' hallmark feature.

As usual, NVIDIA's partners like ASUS, Gigabyte, Lenovo, Thunderobot, MECHREVO, and other PC manufacturers will showcase new PCs and laptops equipped with RTX 50 series graphics cards at CES, making it a highly anticipated zone for gamers.

For small and medium-sized AI enterprises, the RTX 50 series also signifies a boost in computing power. Due to the high cost and limited availability of NVIDIA's professional AI graphics cards like the H100/200, enterprises are turning to high-end RTX models for training large models. The RTX 5090 is expected to be in high demand upon release.

Manufacturers will also display various new PC models at CES, such as Lenovo's rollable screen laptop and ASUS's Copilot AI PC/tablet. However, due to the unavailability of Microsoft Copilot AI in China, consumers have a weaker perception of AI PCs, and may have to wait a while longer.

NVIDIA's rival AMD will also be present at CES, expected to showcase new RDNA4 architecture processors like the Ryzen 9 and dedicated chips for handheld consoles. Intel, facing difficulties, hopes to turn the tide with its second-generation Core i7 Ultra mobile processors.

Home Appliances Continue to Embrace AI

Home appliances have always been a staple at CES, with giants like Samsung, Hisense, TCL, Sony, Panasonic, LG, Changhong, and cleaning appliance manufacturers like Dreame and NARWAL all set to participate.

As a regular at CES, Hisense has adopted the slogan "AI Your Life," fully committing to AI. Hisense has invested heavily in AI display technology, leveraging its self-developed AI picture quality chip and ERNIE Bot large model for scene understanding, AI picture quality processing, and AI agents. Judging from the teaser posters, Hisense may extend AI functionality to other appliances like refrigerators, aiming to build an AI-powered lifestyle. (See details: Returning from CES: "Black Technology" Showcase, with Laser Display as the Biggest Surprise)

On the other hand, Samsung has confirmed it will exhibit an AI refrigerator at CES 2025. Samsung, a pioneer in AI hardware, was among the first to introduce AI-powered phones and TVs. Its AI refrigerator boasts "AI Hybrid Cooling Technology," which Samsung explains involves applying specific AI algorithms at the foundational level (perhaps edge-side models) to work in tandem with an AI variable-frequency compressor for reduced overall energy consumption. Considering that the smallest edge-side models in the industry can now be compressed to 968MB for local deployment, Samsung's AI refrigerator design philosophy might offer insights for the home appliance industry. (See details: Samsung Remains Unchanged, Can It Revive OLED TVs?)

Last year, Chinese cleaning appliance brands garnered significant attention at CES, and this year, brands like Dreame and NARWAL have confirmed their participation. From a market perspective, the domestic cleaning appliance market is nearing saturation, making overseas expansion the only viable option. In fact, Dreame's overseas market revenue accounted for 65% of its total revenue in 2023. (Ex-senior executives of Dreame flock to robotics, set for a showdown with their former employer?)

For Dreame and others expanding overseas, the focus lies in market customization. Outdoor, pool, and building facade cleaning robots have vast market potential abroad. To tap into these markets, enterprises need agile development capabilities to meet demand and product iterations, while continuously increasing investment in AI. This presents both opportunities and challenges for domestic enterprises.

Of course, whether it's major or cleaning appliances, the domestic market remains the foundation. CES can also be seen as an early preview of new domestic products. As of January 2, 2025, over 10 provinces and cities have announced the continuation of trade-in subsidy policies, which is good news for home appliance enterprises.

China's "Land Aircraft Carrier" to Make a Splash at CES

Unlike consumer electronics, automotive technology focuses not on broad AI applications but on exploring future mobility.

Xiaopeng Huitian's "Land Aircraft Carrier," which debuted at last year's CES, will return this year, highlighting its automatic vehicle-to-air separation mechanism. This model, combining a six-wheeled ground vehicle with a vertical take-off and landing aircraft, can automatically separate or combine the land and air bodies within five minutes. Additionally, the ground vehicle serves as a mobile charging station for the aircraft, supporting six flights on a full tank of fuel and battery. Mass production and delivery are expected to commence in the fourth quarter of this year.

"Low-altitude economy" is a buzzword lately, with China's National Development and Reform Commission establishing the Low-Altitude Economic Development Department on December 27, 2024, to formulate and implement low-altitude economic development strategies and medium- to long-term plans. With policy support, enterprises like Xiaopeng and AVIC Aerosystems will enjoy smoother explorations in flying vehicles and the supply chain.

Furthermore, BMW will showcase its pioneering BMW iDrive Panorama intelligent cockpit, optimizing the driver's experience by replacing the instrument cluster with ultra-short-throw projection and heads-up display. Tesla, ZEEKR, Honda, Hyundai, and other automakers will also present concept cars and new technologies.

The Flip Side of CES 2025: AI Concept Misuse

Before CES 2025 opens, its official website has already awarded 362 "CES Innovation Awards." However, many of these awards seem superfluous. Most products lack depth, focusing more on superficial industrial design and the misuse of AI concepts.

For instance, almost all hardware products are labeled "AI," including AI plant boxes, AI saunas, AI electrolyte water kettles, AI chatbots, and more. The AI functionality in these products is often rudimentary, such as automatic temperature adjustment and personalized customization, essentially remaining programming-driven smart devices where AI serves merely as a gimmick.

At the current stage of AIGC technology, the foundation lies in "feeding data," explaining why tech giants globally are frantically purchasing NVIDIA AI graphics cards and investing heavily in building computing power centers. For vertical hardware, even if they can access open-source large models from major companies, they still need to train data to specialize them, a process that consumes significant time and resources.

Of course, AI is an unstoppable trend, as Baidu's Robin Li mentioned in his 2025 letter to all employees: "Although super apps have yet to emerge, AI's actual penetration rate is already high and is expected to experience explosive growth in 2025." As consumers, we will inevitably encounter numerous AI-labeled products during this process. However, by focusing on actual usage needs, we can avoid unnecessary AI marketing and await the advent of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence).