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As the year turned to January 2024, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas kicked off its curtains.

The full name of CES is International Consumer Electronics Show, which has a history of 57 years since its inaugural event. According to official data, as of January 2nd, the number of attendees at this exhibition is expected to exceed 130,000, with an anticipated presence of over 1,000 startups and more than 4,000 exhibitors.

CES has always been dubbed the "Spring Festival Gala" of the consumer electronics industry, with the technologies and products on display almost foreshadowing the direction of the tech industry for the coming year. This article will take a look at the trends revealed by CES 2024.

01

Key Focus on Three Major Manufacturers

At major exhibitions, the spotlight is on the big players, and this year, Nvidia, Intel, and AMD all made a high-profile appearance. This year, all media in the know have bet on the keyword "AI" for this exhibition. The performances of the three giants have also confirmed this point.

Nvidia

Nvidia chose to take the lead, starting its keynote speech at midnight on Tuesday (Beijing time).

At this CES, Nvidia showcased innovations in gaming, creation, generative AI, and robotics. Let's start with the biggest highlight: the GeForce RTX 40 SUPER series of GPUs.

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Nvidia unveiled the GeForce RTX 40 series SUPER graphics cards, which are based on the Ada Lovelace architecture. There are three new models in this release: the RTX 4080 SUPER, RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, and RTX 4070 SUPER, all of which are compatible with laptops.The RTX 4080 SUPER adheres to the principle of "more for the same price." It supports full ray-tracing gaming at 4K resolution. In the most graphically intensive games, the RTX 4080 SUPER's performance is 1.4 times faster than the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, which does not support DLSS frame generation technology. The performance of the RTX 4080 SUPER is double that of the RTX 3080 Ti. The suggested retail price for the RTX 4080 SUPER starts at 8099 RMB ($999 USD), and it will be available starting January 31st. This pricing puts pressure on AMD's Radeon RX 7900 XT ($899 USD) and XTX ($999 USD) cards.

The mid-to-high-end RTX 4070 Ti SUPER follows the "more cores and more memory" approach. The RTX 4070 Ti originally used the AD104-400 chip, which is the full version of the AD104, so the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER can only use a cut-down version of the larger-scale AD103 chip: AD103-275, expanding the number of CUDA cores to 8448, with base and Boost clock speeds increased to 2340/2610 MHz, which are higher than those of the RTX 4080 SUPER.

With the upgrade of the chip, the memory has also been expanded to 16GB GDDR6X with a 256-bit interface, naturally increasing the total bandwidth to 672 GB/s. However, it is worth noting that despite the larger chip and increased memory count, the overall power consumption remains at 285W. The suggested retail price starts at 6499 RMB, replacing the original price range of the RTX 4070 Ti, and is expected to be available on January 24th.

The entry-level RTX 4070 SUPER follows the "incremental improvement" path. The memory type, capacity, and speed are exactly the same as the RTX 4070, but the overall power consumption is slightly increased to 220W. However, the chip used is the same AD104 chip as the RTX 4070 Ti and RTX 4070, model AD104-350, with 7168 CUDA cores, which is a 22% increase compared to the RTX 4070, making the overall scale closer to the RTX 4070 Ti. The operating clock speed is close to that of the RTX 4070, with only the base clock speed increased to 1980 MHz. The price starts at 4899 RMB ($599 USD), replacing the existing price range of the RTX 4070, and is expected to be available on January 17th. The RTX 4070's price is adjusted to $549 USD, and a Founders Edition will be launched.

Looking at NVIDIA's AI "appetizers" next.

In the field of generative AI, NVIDIA has introduced two ACE production microservices. ACE is a set of technologies that can help developers use generative AI to create lifelike virtual digital characters. In simple terms, these are AI NPCs that can generate AI-driven characters in virtual worlds. Developers involved in this technology are mostly gamers, such as Charisma.AI, Inworld, miHoYo, NetEase Games, ZQGame, Tencent Games, Ubisoft, and UneeQ.

In the automotive field, NVIDIA has been promoting its "Drive Thor" computing platform, aiming to be the brain of cars. This year, NVIDIA has gained new customers in this area. Li Auto has chosen to use the "Drive Thor" computing platform in its next generation of vehicles. In addition, Great Wall Motors, Zeekr, and Xiaomi will all choose NVIDIA's "DRIVE Orin" chip to implement ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) features.

Intel

Last year, when Intel released 7 "Raptor Lake Refresh" 14th generation Core desktop processors, it was evident that they were holding back a big move. At CES 2024, Intel launched 18 new 35W and 65W mainstream 14th generation Core desktop chips in one go, which can be said to be a victory in quantity.

Looking at the mobile processor side, Intel introduced the 14th generation HX high-performance mobile processor with a 55W power consumption target. This series is led by the Intel Core i9-14900HX, featuring 8 performance cores (P cores) and 16 efficient cores (E cores). The secondary flagship model, the i7-14700HX, has increased the number of efficient cores by 50%, increasing from the previous generation's 8P+8E configuration to 8P+12E, reaching a 20-core 28-thread configuration, and the L3 cache has also been correspondingly increased to 33MB.According to performance data released by Intel, the i9-14900HX also outperforms the Ryzen 9 7945HX by 3%-51% in benchmark testing and productivity performance, with the highest lead being in a test of the UE5 Unreal Engine, where the lead reaches 51%. In conventional benchmark tests such as DaVinci and Cinebench 2024, the lead is approximately around 15%.

Additionally, in the mainstream desktop processor sector, Intel has also expanded the 14th generation Core desktop stack. These are the non-K series processors that we often refer to, including corresponding models for i9, i7, i5, and i3. The core specifications of the non-K processors are essentially the same as the K series, with the main differences lying in frequency, power consumption, and whether overclocking is supported.

From the performance data published by Intel, the Core i9-14900 is about 2%-7% faster in gaming and productivity performance compared to the previous generation i9-13900. The performance of the Core i9-14900 and i7-14700 is also significantly faster than that of the competitor's Ryzen 9 7900, with the productivity performance, which focuses more on multi-core, being about 7%-30% faster than the Ryzen 9 7900.

Finally, Intel has released the new Intel Core Mobile Processor 1 series for high-performance ultrabooks. The initial models include three: the Core 7 150U with a 2P+8E core configuration, totaling 10 cores and 12 threads, with a maximum turbo frequency of 5.4GHz and a maximum turbo power consumption of 55W; the Core 5 120U with a 2P+8E core configuration, also totaling 10 cores and 12 threads, with a maximum turbo frequency of 5.0GHz and a maximum turbo power consumption of 55W; and the Core 3 100U with a 2P+4E core configuration, totaling 6 cores and 8 threads, with a maximum turbo frequency of 4.7GHz and a maximum turbo power consumption of 55W.

AMD

At this year's CES, AMD's slogan declared its ambition to enter the AI era: Advancing AI PCs.

After a long wait of 2 years and 9 months, AMD has finally upgraded its desktop APU product line. It introduced four new APUs, collectively known as the Ryzen 8000G series.

The star of this product line is the Ryzen 7 8700G chip. It features 16 cores and 16 threads, 8MB of L2 cache, 16MB of L3 cache, with a base frequency of 4.2-5.1GHz. It integrates the Radeon 780M GPU with a record-breaking frequency of up to 2.9GHz across 12 CU units, and also includes the Ryzen AI engine.The Ryzen 5 8600G is streamlined to 6 cores with 12 threads, 6MB of L2 cache, and 16MB of L3 cache, with a base clock of 4.35-5.0GHz. The integrated graphics are downgraded to an 8-unit Radeon 760M with a clock speed of 2.8GHz, and it also features the Ryzen AI Engine.

The Ryzen 5 8500G also has 6 cores with 12 threads, but it combines 2 Zen4 and 4 Zen4c cores, with a base clock of 3.55-5.0GHz. The integrated graphics are a Radeon 740M with only 4 units, and it no longer includes the Ryzen AI Engine.

The Ryzen 3 8300G consists of 1 Zen4 and 3 Zen4c cores for a total of 4 cores with 8 threads, 4MB of L2 cache, and 8MB of L3 cache, with a base clock of 3.45-4.9GHz. The integrated graphics remain as the Radeon 740M.

In contrast to NVIDIA's launch of three Super versions for their mid-to-high-end series of graphics cards, AMD has only updated one model, the Radeon RX 7600 XT. The previous RX 7600 was primarily positioned for high-end 1080p gaming, but with the upgrade to 16GB of VRAM and an increased core frequency, the RX 7600 XT has become an option for entry-level 1440p gaming.

The RX 7600 XT retains its original 32 compute units, 64 AI accelerators, and 2,048 stream processors, but the clock speed has been increased to 2.47GHz - 2.76GHz. According to AMD's testing, at 1080p, the 7600XT has a slight improvement over the 7600. For example, in a game like "Starfield" with all effects maxed out, the RX 7600 achieves 61fps, while the RX 7600 XT can reach 71fps. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB GPU is set to launch on January 24th, with a retail price of $329.

02

CES Showcases 2024 Trends

AI PCs

As mentioned earlier, chip manufacturers are all advancing with the pace of AI. At CES 2024, more AI PCs were showcased.

NVIDIA's Global GeForce Marketing Vice President, Matt Wuebbling, stated, "NVIDIA is on the verge of launching AI-Ready computers with major PC manufacturers, and personal computing will enter a new era."At CES 2024, when NVIDIA unveiled its new series of RTX graphics cards, several PC manufacturers were launching laptops equipped with the new cards. NVIDIA dubbed them as "AI-ready," including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, MSI, Razer, and Samsung, with these products beginning to ship this month.

Lenovo showcased over 40 new AI-based devices and solutions, including more than 10 AI PCs. Specifically, they included the Yoga Pro 9i, which empowers the creative process, the ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid, the world's first laptop that can seamlessly switch between laptop and tablet modes, the world's first business AI PC ThinkPad X1 Carbon AI, and the new ultra-compact ThinkCentre neo Ultra.

Additionally, the PC giant Acer continued to unveil new AI PCs. They expanded their Swift lightweight laptop product line with three new models, all equipped with Intel Core Ultra processors and integrated NPU (neural processing unit) for AI acceleration, providing powerful processing performance and AI technology support. There is also a newly designed Copilot key that can launch Windows Copilot with a single press. The Swift X 14 even features the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series graphics cards, making it an AI PC tailored for creators and students.

The Vero product line, which uses eco-friendly materials, has also joined the AI PC ranks. The Aspire Vero 16 comes with an Intel Core Ultra processor and supports Wi-Fi 7. The proportion of PCR (Post-Consumer Recycled) plastic used in the body is double that of the 2021 model, making this new machine Acer's first carbon-neutral AI PC.

VR, AR, XR

Do you remember the "Metaverse" by the side of Daming Lake? The much-anticipated VR, AR, and XR technologies also made an appearance at CES 2024.

Sony introduced a "Spatial" VR headset with a smart control ring. The headset uses the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 platform, including a 4K OLED microdisplay and a video-see-through feature for the XR headset. The CEO of Sony stated that the headset is designed specifically for professionals working in 3D, allowing wearers to expand their "creative space" by overlaying virtual objects onto the physical space.

It is worth mentioning that although Apple did not participate in CES, it managed to announce the release of its head-mounted display, Vision Pro, in the United States on February 2nd, just one day before CES 2024 opened.

Vision Pro features an all-new 3D user interface and input system that is "entirely controlled by the user's eyes, hands, and voice." Intuitive gestures allow users to interact with applications simply by looking at them, tapping to select, flicking to scroll, or using a virtual keyboard or dictation for input. With Siri, users can quickly open or close applications, play media, and more. Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that this is the most advanced consumer electronic device ever created, and it will redefine the way people connect, create, and explore.Automobiles

This year's CES was also a car show. As car manufacturers increasingly value technology and tech features, car manufacturers from all over the world also filled the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Volkswagen went all in, integrating ChatGPT into its vehicles. Starting from the second quarter of 2024, Volkswagen will also become the first car manufacturer to mass-apply ChatGPT in a variety of models. This marks the arrival of the generative AI era for cars. According to Volkswagen, the integrated ChatGPT will be provided together with the latest generation IDA voice assistant, applicable to models including: ID.7, ID.5, ID.4, ID.3, the all-new Tiguan, the all-new Passat, and the new Golf.

Kia announced the launch of a new modular electric vehicle platform called Platform Beyond Vehicles (PBV). The PBV platform is the result of five years of research and development by Kia and is still in the concept stage. Although these vehicles are not yet available as daily travel tools, Kia plans to focus the first car PV5 on commercial uses, such as ride-hailing and delivery services.

Hyundai Motor Company showcased its vision of a hydrogen-powered, software-driven transformation at CES 2024, going beyond mobility applications. The company highlighted the future blueprint of the hydrogen energy ecosystem and its vision for software and artificial intelligence (AI). Hyundai Motor Group has announced its commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 and has clarified the RE100 roadmap to use 100% renewable energy in overseas factories by 2045 and in all group entities by 2050. Hydrogen energy will play a prominent role in achieving these goals.

BMW will turn inwards in 2024, focusing on how cutting-edge technologies such as augmented reality and large language models can enrich the digital experience inside the car. Even at the exhibition, visitors were given the opportunity to personally test the potential uses of AR glasses while driving. With the glasses on, users can see how navigation instructions, hazard warnings, entertainment content, charging station information, and support visualization in parking situations are embedded into the real-world environment.

In terms of automobiles, this year no domestic car participated in CES under the name of the main factory. However, whole vehicle technology suppliers Youpa, Lotus participated in the exhibition under the name of robots, and Xiaopeng participated with "flying cars" Huitian.