Our second year at CES was a big success and while you may have read other sources’ accounts of the show, I thought you might (since you likely are a regular reader and interested in all things OWC) like a summary from our perspective.
Now, if you’ve never been to a show of this magnitude before, I’ll let you in on a little secret. It’s not the party some lead you to think it is! We’re up early and reviewing info on all our new product introductions. Then we’re on the floor for eight hours straight (we don’t take lunch break – we’ve got an adoring public to serve!). Then, after dinner, it’s back to our “regular” work until we get the necessary three hours of sleep. ;-)
So, while some perhaps party every night until dawn, you can rest assured that Team OWC doesn’t lose its focus.
CES itself experienced a record year… the 2012 show was the largest in the event’s 44 year history with a record number of more than 3,100 exhibitors across the largest show floor the convention has ever had — 1.861 million net square feet of exhibit space. It’s a good thing that the show floor was bigger, as CES drew record attendance with 153,000 seekers of gadgets and gizmos.
While we certainly enjoyed our share of media coverage last year, this year was off the charts. Of course, it helps to introduce new products at the show like the only UL Listed AC/USB wall outlet, the largest (and still only) aftermarket SSD for MacBook Air, and the next generation of the popular miniStack external storage solution.
In all, we introduced eight new products:
- Jupiter mini-SAS Enterprise Storage System
- Power2U AC/USB Power Outlet
- Mercury Enterprise Pro 6G SSD
- Mercury Aura Pro Express 480GB SSD
- Mercury Aura Envoy Bus-Powered Enclosure for MacBook Air SSD
- miniStack and miniStack Max external Storage Solutions
- Mercury Elite Pro mini USB 3/eSATA 6G Portable Storage Solution
- GripStand Station – Storage, Charging and Syncing station for iPads.
As wide a range of the products we had, we had just as wide a range of vistitors. There were hard-core tech sites like Anandtech (with the man himself, Anand Shimpi, stopping by personally to see our Aura Pro Express 480GB SSD), and overclockersclub covering a variety of our new products. We also had major news outlets like Good Morning America and Fox News covering our Power2U. (Note: We heard Fox ran a segment, but we have been unable to find a posting of it anywhere. If you know of a link to the video, be the first to post it in the comments and win a pair of NuTouch Gloves).
Even the Mac-centric media was well represented by Dick DeBartolo and Dave Hamilton.
While our CES activities are planned months in advance, there’s always the chance for a surprise “one more thing” unveiling. This year it was pretty big, as OWC Larry himself unveiled and gave the pre-release info on the PCIe SSD we’ve been developing. (Sorry. We don’t have any additional information to share at this time. Keep an eye on the OWC Blog for the latest updates.) The SSD Review broke this news the first day of the show and thus began a steady stream of people coming by our booth to check out the card. And if you care to see Team OWC at CES, there’s a nice group shot of us in that post.
While the media coverage was rewarding, we also received a CES Honorable Mention award for our miniStack MAX solution from our friends over at iLounge. Of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that without Dennis and Jeremy and their vision of the iLounge Pavillion at CES, the Mac and iDevice industry never would have grown at CES to where it is today — so a tip of the hat to them for sure.
Now that we’ve wrapped up CES with its industry trade focus, we’re looking forward to seeing you, the “end users” at the upcoming Macworld and NAB shows. We really cleaned up on the awards last year at Macworld with our Aura Pro Express, so it’s anyone’s guess as to which product will likely win this year. Power2U? miniStack MAX? Jupiter? What do you think?
