On the eve of CES in Las Vegas, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) shared its industry forecast for the year ahead and future tech trends in a pre-show keynote, highlighting how socio-economic and political factors are influencing technology consumption as much as innovation, marketing, and practical applications. Brian Comiskey, senior director of Innovation and Trends […]
On the eve of CES in Las Vegas, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) shared its industry forecast for the year ahead and future tech trends in a pre-show keynote, highlighting how socio-economic and political factors are influencing technology consumption as much as innovation, marketing, and practical applications.
Brian Comiskey, senior director of Innovation and Trends at the CTA, revealed that the consumer technology sector would grow by 3.2% with a $537bn spend in 2025 “and not just in hardware but also software and services,” he added.
However, the CTA’s futurist warned that the record spends forecast on products that consumers rely on – such as smart phones and laptops – is threatened by President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff proposals, which would raise costs for US consumers and could squash a lot of this spending.
The CTA’s futurist Brian Comiskey discusses tech trends ahead of CES 2025
“Tariffs on technology products could lead to a $90-$143 billion — billion with a B — decline in US purchasing power. So, tablets and laptops could decline as much as 68%. Gaming consoles as much as 58%; Smart phones up to 37%,” Comiskey warned.
Future of shopping
According to Comiskey, other growth areas predicted for 2025 and beyond included the AI retail market and virtual “try it on” markets – valued at $7bn and $2bn respectively, which would increase to $30bn and $18bn by the end of the decade.
This growth, he added, was fuelled by younger consumers (sometimes referred to as Gen Z and born between 1997-2012) who currently account for one-third of the world’s population and are growing in spending power. Comiskey added that just over a quarter (27%) of the workforce now comprises of GenZ staff.
GenZ shoppers prefer faster tech replacement cycles
“Their financial and cultural power is growing,” he said. “They will shape of tech innovation emerges and the patterns behind it. Our research shows that 60% of Gen Z are early adopters of tech in US. They are comfortable with faster replacement cycles and take pride in owning the latest tech.”
AI: Chatbots, digital twins and humanoids
Comiskey added that AI would remain a key trend at CES because investors were now looking for return on investment. In this context, applications that increase productivity appear to be a sure winner he said.
This evolution in AI includes AI agents, which can autonomously do tasks such as payroll management, client relationship management – Cosmiskey namechecked build-your-own-chatbot firm Chatbase, which is exhibiting at the show, as one such example.
In the industrial space, Comiskey highlighted digital twin technology from companies such as Nvidia and Siemens which delegates can see on the show floor.
“This virtualises a physical object into a virtual environment, unlocking research and development at a fraction of the cost. We think of Nvidia as a firm that makes chips and GPUs, but it also does incredible work on software on the digital twin side,” he said.
French company Enchanted Tool’s “emotionally intelligent” humanoids
And where would CES be without robots? The third AI productivity track to watch out for, the futurist added, was humanoid robots.
Various enterprise applications for warehouses, retail applications, security and social care giving can be seen throughout the show floor. Comiskey gave exhibitor Enchanted Tools a namecheck – a French start up that’s attempting to bring a new AI-powered social robot to market that claims to be both approachable and engaging.
Renewables to power big tech
Solutions that support the infrastructure underpinning the growth of AI and the energy transition are also prevalent at CES this year, according to Comiskey, who noted that “large technology companies are turning from being innovators to becoming energy power purchasers and developers.”
CES exhibitors looking at alternative energy solutions aimed at Big Tech vendors include 3M which will be talking about renewable energy infrastructure for solar, while cooling technology solutions for data centres, offered by exhibitors such as Eaton, hope to address the critical issue tech companies face around carbon emissions.
Green Hydrogen solutions are being exhibited by South Korean multinational SK while nuclear solutions in the form of modular reactors are being offered by firms such as French start up Otrera.
AgriTech’s new players
While century-old agritech player John Deere is back at CES this year with a suite of software and services that aim to boost yield, Comiskey was also keen to highlight new exhibitors including two Japanese firms – Kubota, which offers robotic tech that manage farmland and multinational firm Komatsu which he said was advancing greener automated vehicles for farming.
Japanese multinational Komatsu advancing greener agritech vehicles
Tech that increases food sustainability and tech that supports communities is also trending at CES this year, according to the futurist. He pointed to exhibitors such as South Korea’s Nuvilab which has developed an AI food scanner that can examine health and core value of food and examine shelf life for food waste reduction.
HealthTech
Interestingly, Comiskey said that many HealthTech developments now need to be viewed through the lens of GLP 1 weight loss and diabetes medications such as Ozempic.
“Obesity rates declined for the first time in the US in years and that is directly linked with this drug class. GP1s are in a race with AI to be the innovation that has the greatest transformational effect this decade,” the futurist said.
“Not only will this change and impact the consumer good markets such as snack foods, but it will push other health companies working on solutions for diabetes and sleep apnoea to position their products for an GLP-1 world.”
No doubt AI will be part of this world still though, as precision medicine that personalises treatment for individual patients with AI and data are out in mass at CES this year.
New approach to teleheath: OnMed’s Clinic-in-a-Box
These include wearable devices for wound care that can detect wound recovery and transmit that back to the patient’s medical team.
There’s also a mental health monitoring device by Swiss firm Nutrix AG that monitors cortisol levels and can transmit data directly to medical staff.
Exhibitors such as Glidance, meanwhile, are taking innovation in autonomous vehicles and producing robot guide dogs for low vision and blind individuals that don’t qualify for a real-life canine.
Comiskey added that there was also a buzz around OnMed’s Clinic-in-a-box solution which, he claimed, was “rethinking telehealth”. Some of the services offered through the CareStation include real-time consultations with remote healthcare clinicians, and tools for measuring vitals such as blood pressure, temperature, oxygen levels, and thermal imaging.
