There's an old saying in America, "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." People travel from afar to this desert city to cast aside their worries, indulge in food, drink, and entertainment, try their luck at the tables, and enjoy fine dining, shows, and shopping. But the other side of the gambling capital is its status as a premier global hub for conventions and exhibitions. The city hosts over 22,000 business events annually, with the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) alone holding 50 to 80 major conferences. These events attract more than 6 million visitors to the city each year, accounting for one-seventh of its total annual visitors and generating over $10 billion in revenue. The most important of these events is undoubtedly the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held at the start of each year. This globally significant consumer electronics exhibition has a history of nearly 60 years, having been held annually in Las Vegas since 1978. Over the decades, it has witnessed successive waves of technological trends and the rise of new industry leaders. Since 2012, I have visited Las Vegas almost every year. These trips over the past decade have provided ample observation samples—the iteration of tech trends, shifts in the industrial landscape, and the rise of Chinese companies have all left clear marks on this annual event. Looking back to the early 2010s, the theme of CES was quite clear: the PC industry was trying to extend its lifespan with the Ultrabook concept, while the rise of mobile internet made smartphones the focal point. Intel, Samsung, LG, and Sony occupied the most prominent positions. Subsequent evolution largely followed the technology adoption curve. The 2013-2016 period saw the consumer drone boom, where DJI popularized easy-to-fly, camera-equipped quadcopters for the mass market, leading to a rapid surge in aerial photography and recreational applications. However, regulatory restrictions, privacy concerns, and safety issues soon led to a correction and a period of market rationalization, with many startups failing. The 2014-2018 era was marked by the smart home and voice assistant frenzy, driven by Amazon and Google bringing AI voice interaction to consumers. VR/AR reached its peak of expectations around 2016, with HTC, Sony, and Microsoft all entering the fray, but it soon entered a downturn due to a lack of practical application scenarios. In recent years, smart vehicles and autonomous driving have become central themes at CES, with the new West Hall almost turning into a stage for automotive technology. Simultaneously, embodied AI and humanoid robots have become the absolute focus of this year's CES. From the number of exhibitors to the density of on-site crowds, it's evident that this category has evolved from an "interesting concept" last year to a "serious business proposition" this year. The past 15 years of CES have also witnessed the remarkable rise of Chinese exhibitors. In the early 2010s, apart from a handful of international Chinese brands like Hisense and Lenovo, the vast majority of small and medium-sized Chinese enterprises were concentrated in the South Hall of the LVCC or in remote corners of the international exhibition area. Chinese booths at the time were often jokingly referred to by media as the "Huaqiangbei branch," primarily showcasing phone cases, cables, power banks, cheap Bluetooth earphones, and unbranded tablets. 2015 was a milestone year. Chinese companies began to occupy the Central and North Halls of the LVCC en masse. Major Chinese firms started showcasing complete, highly integrated electronic products. DJI defined the consumer drone market; Hisense and TCL began to seriously compete with Samsung and Sony in the high-end TV space; numerous Chinese startups started exhibiting products with their own design languages in smart home and wearable device categories, moving beyond simple OEM manufacturing. 2019 represented the peak for Chinese exhibitor presence. The number of Chinese exhibitors reached a peak of approximately 30% of the total. Although the pandemic temporarily interrupted this trend, starting last year, Chinese companies returning in force have once again flooded the CES stage. This year's data shows over 1,300 Chinese companies exhibiting, re-establishing China as the largest overseas contingent at CES. More significant than the growth in numbers is the change in quality. Among the 247 projects that won CES 2026 Innovation Awards, Chinese companies secured over 100 awards, accounting for more than 40%. The technological innovations in these products involve deeper technical accumulations in areas like optical systems, AI algorithms, and materials science. This indicates that Chinese exhibitors have evolved from "assembling finished products" to "exporting core technologies." In the consumer electronics field, Chinese companies are no longer competing solely on volume but have become dominant forces in technology implementation and the component supply chain. This trajectory—from the "margins of the exhibition floor" to the "core of the main halls," from "accessories" to "end products/core technologies"—epitomizes the Chinese tech industry's journey from "selling manufacturing capacity" to "showcasing solutions," from "Made in China" to "Defined by China." The assessment of Chris Pereira, a CES Innovation Awards judge, accurately summarizes the strength of Chinese exhibitors: "Chinese exhibitors are no longer about 'low-cost manufacturing,' but about end-to-end execution capabilities, tight integration of hardware and software, mature industrial design, and faster iteration cycles." The most unforgettable moment of this year's CES was undoubtedly Lenovo hosting its Tech World conference at Las Vegas's iconic Sphere venue. This was not only Lenovo's first time holding Tech World during CES but also the first time a tech company has held a launch event at the Sphere. From a business strategy perspective, this perfectly combined Lenovo's industry standing, technical prowess, and global brand. The impact of this launch, beyond the unparalleled immersive experience offered by the Sphere's dome, was the assembly of the most impressive lineup of innovation leaders in the consumer electronics industry. Top executives including NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, AMD CEO Lisa Su, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon took the stage successively with Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing to unveil their collaborative new products. These four giants represent the pinnacle of GPU, CPU, and mobile chip technologies, spanning the entire product line from phones and notebooks to workstations and servers. Their simultaneous appearance at a single launch event itself speaks volumes about Lenovo's position as a leading global consumer electronics firm. Apart from Jensen Huang, who had to leave early for another awards event, the other executives stayed until the end, joining Yang Yuanqing on stage to thank the audience, resulting in a star-studded "all-star" photo. It's worth noting that Lisa Su's attention to detail was particularly impressive; she personally conducted a rehearsal on stage an hour and a half before the keynote began. The protagonist of Lenovo's launch this year was not just numerous new hardware products, but the underlying "Hybrid AI" strategy: the integration of Personal AI, Enterprise AI, and Public AI. Lenovo not only launched the Qira personal AI agent platform spanning PCs, phones, and tablets, and inference servers for enterprises, but also announced AI data collaboration cases with FIFA and F1. At this year's CES, FIFA President Gianni Infantino also became a focus of attention, marking his first official appearance as a speaker at CES to promote the upcoming World Cup in the US, Canada, and Mexico, introducing the "most digitally advanced football in history." Infantino's visit had another major purpose: to show support for Lenovo and Hisense, two major World Cup sponsors. At Lenovo's Tech World event at the Sphere, he took the stage during the final segment alongside CEO Yang Yuanqing to announce that Lenovo has officially become the Technology Partner for the 2026 and 2027 FIFA Men's and Women's World Cups. This marks Lenovo's first sponsorship of the World Cup, and Infantino used CES, the world's largest tech stage, to demonstrate how AI will transform the football experience. Infantino mentioned that this World Cup could attract up to 7 million live spectators and will utilize technologies like AI, high-performance computing, and 5G connectivity brought by Lenovo to enhance fan experience and match efficiency. With its role as the Official Technology Partner for the 2026 and 2027 FIFA World Cups, coupled with its long-term partnership with F1, Lenovo's investment in global sports marketing has reached a scale comparable to traditional giants like Samsung and Sony. Only globally operating giants require such high-caliber event partnerships. Furthermore, Infantino also appeared at Hisense's booth in the LVCC Central Hall. Accompanied by Hisense executives, he toured numerous new products and even took practice swings on a golf simulator projected by a Hisense laser TV, drawing a crowd of onlookers. Infantino is quite familiar with Hisense, as this marks the company's fourth consecutive World Cup sponsorship. Like Lenovo, Hisense is not merely providing funding and equipment but is also a technical provider for the World Cup's VAR (Video Assistant Referee) technology. Infantino's special trip to CES to support Hisense and Lenovo illustrates the weight of Chinese companies in global top-tier sports marketing, reflecting that the competitive strategy of China's consumer electronics industry in the global market has ascended from the product level to brand building and ecosystem development. As Yang Yuanqing stated, it is precisely because of their global business and achievements that they need these top-tier events to enhance their brand and technological image. At this year's CES, Hisense launched a new generation of RGB-Mini LED display technology, introducing an industry-first sky blue-cyan fourth LED backlight. According to Omdia data, Hisense already holds the global top position in the 100-inch and larger TV market. Securing this high-end market position is directly related to Hisense's continuous investment in display technology and is also a result of its sponsorship of top-tier events to elevate its brand positioning. Companies like Lenovo and Hisense boosting brand awareness through global sports marketing follows the standard path previously taken by successfully globalized consumer electronics firms like Sony and Samsung. The scale of this investment (in the hundreds of millions of dollars) itself indicates the importance these companies place on global markets and their pursuit of brand premium. However, brand building requires long-term investment and sustained product strength, with significant ROI often difficult to achieve in the short term. Humanoid robots were undoubtedly the absolute stars of CES 2026, completing a dramatic shift from a "technology showcase" to "practical application." Supported by supercomputing power and AI large language models, they are beginning to demonstrate their potential for commercialization and productivity. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang set the tone at the show, declaring that robotics has entered the era of "Physical AI." The new generation of robots no longer relies on pre-programmed instructions but is equipped with supercomputing platforms like Vera Rubin and large language models (LLMs), granting them powerful environmental perception, logical reasoning, and human-like interaction capabilities. Crucially, humanoid robots are no longer expensive laboratory novelties; their cost control and reliability have reached the threshold for commercial deployment, hitting the $20,000 accessibility mark. The reaction of on-site visitors is also noteworthy: last year, people were amazed that robots could stand and walk; this year, the focus has shifted to "what practical work can they do?" and "when can we buy one?" This change in questions reflects a maturing of market expectations. On the industrial front, Hyundai Motor Group's Boston Dynamics demonstrated how its Atlas robot can enter automotive assembly lines to handle tedious, dangerous, or high-precision component assembly tasks. For the home, LG's launch of the CLOiD humanoid household robot became a focal point; equipped with dexterous arms, it can follow voice commands to fetch drinks from the refrigerator or perform household chores. In the robotics field, a clear three-way competition is emerging among Chinese, American, and Korean contenders. Korea's robotics strategy emphasizes ecosystem integration, connecting the supply chain from core components to finished products—a vertical integration model consistent with the success of Korean firms in semiconductors and display panels. The "K-Humanoid" alliance, led by Rainbow Robotics with Samsung's support, showcased the HMND-01 Alpha, a 2.2-meter tall wheeled industrial robot with a 15kg payload. On the floor of this year's CES, Chinese robotics companies are attracting a growing number of global buyers and potential partners with their comprehensive advantages of "diverse product lines, significant cost benefits, and fast commercialization speed." They are no longer appearing as "technology demonstrators" or "potential followers," but are systematically entering the core stage of the global robotics industry in a manner approaching "corps-style" operations. Out of 38 robotics exhibitors, 21 were from China, a proportion that itself indicates the Chinese robotics industry has entered a phase of intensive investment. At the Chinese robotics booths in the LVCC North Hall, robots from various brands performed dances, played table tennis, did calisthenics, boxed, and folded clothes, attracting large crowds of spectators. The commercial value of these demonstrations lies in reducing the public's psychological distance from robots, paving the way for future market education. However, local event planners were also directly inquiring about the possibility of quick shipments to meet deadlines for high-profile local events like the US's February "Super Bowl." They often mentioned specific movements seen on social media, further questioning stability and delivery timelines. Unlike the previous logic of exhibiting primarily with prototypes and concept demos, a significant portion of the products shown by Chinese manufacturers at this year's CES have entered the mass production stage and are clearly aimed at commercial deployment. This shift is transforming CES from merely a showcase for technological imagination into a venue beginning to reveal the outlines of real industrial pathways. Judgments offered on-site by multiple Chinese robotics companies were highly consistent: the industry is shifting from "can it be built?" to "can it work long-term and be deployed sustainably?" In the field of robot hardware, Chinese manufacturers have formed a clear advantage based on their manufacturing foundation and ecosystem deployment capabilities. Many representatives from overseas research institutions focused not on single-function demonstrations but on capabilities for secondary development, stability, and delivery schedules. Ubtech's completion of the 1,000th unit of the Walker S2 is a concrete milestone. Securing a $37 million government order from the Guangxi border region signifies that the product has passed government procurement validation processes. This B2G (Business-to-Government) model provides relatively stable demand for the early market. Unitree Robotics showcased a product line covering everything from low-cost quadruped robots (Go2, around $2,000) to high-end humanoid robots (H2). This product matrix strategy aligns with mature tactics in the consumer electronics industry—using low-price products to capture the entry-level market while using high-end products to establish a technological image. It is noteworthy that many Chinese manufacturers emphasize full-stack in-house R&D capabilities, from core joints, reducers, motors, and encoders to drive boards, motion control systems, and underlying algorithms, striving for comprehensive control over key components. This choice is not for short-term demonstration effects but to lay the foundation for long-term robot operation and continuous iteration. Having attended CES for 15 years, one witnesses the constant succession of technologies, but even more so, the evolution of Chinese companies from supporting roles to leading roles, from the margins to the center stage, from competing on manufacturing costs to defining industry standards.