AP TELEVISION
Shanghai, China - 25 May 2015
1. Various of Yuneec's Typhoon drone flying in CES Asia event hall
2. Various of young boy playing XBox One in event hall
3. Mid of attendees looking at booths
AP TELEVISION
Shanghai, China - 9 May 2016
4. Various setup shots of Jason Low, Tech Industry Analyst at Canalys, using computer at desk
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Jason Low, Tech Industry Analyst at Canalys:
"We don't see a lot of - let's say - smartphone vendors or PC vendors joining in the show this time around. So, I also believe that the market is now looking for something new, looking for the next trend, next exciting product and the focus is not on smartphones, it's not on tablets, it's not on PCs anymore."
AP TELEVISION
FILE
Barcelona, Spain - 24 February 2016
6. Various of people wearing Samsung Gear Virtual Reality (VR) headsets, taking part in a roller coaster video at Mobile World Congress
7. Close of screen showing VR video
8. Various of people using HTC Vive VR headset at Mobile World Congress
AP TELEVISION
Shanghai, China - 9 May 2016
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Jason Low, Tech Industry Analyst at Canalys:
"So virtual reality and augmented reality, have been hyped - I wouldn't say hyped - but a very heated market where a lot of players are joining in right now. So, vendors, content providers, game publishers, everyone wants a pie from this VR and AR. So, over here we can see that in this CES, this year round, we see there are three, at least three to four local vendors joining in."
AP TELEVISION
Shanghai, China - 25 May 2015
10. Various of models at AltoTech's booth demonstrating Cool Glass One product at CES Asia
AP TELEVISION
Shanghai, China - 9 May 2016
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Jason Low, Tech Industry Analyst at Canalys:
"Wearables, they are still here and they're going to improve on a lot of things. So from my point of view, I'm expecting an improvement on design, an improvement on battery life, an improvement on the data that they track."
AP TELEVISION
Barcelona, Spain - 23 February 2016
12. Various of Natural Machines Foodini 3D food printer printing mashed potato in shape of "4YFN" at Four Years From Now tech event
AP TELEVISION
Shanghai, China - 9 May 2016
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Jason Low, Tech Industry Analyst at Canalys:
"I can see there's a focus on 3D printing, but in terms of consumer interest, it might not be the case. 3D printing might be very interesting towards enterprise users, let's say they want to create new things or design or prototyping, so that suits that use cases. But in terms of normal end users like you and me, we don't rely on 3D printing. Not yet at this point in time."
AP TELEVISION
Shanghai, China - 25 May 2015
14. Various of attendees on CES Asia show floor
AP TELEVISION
Shanghai, China - 10 May 2016
15. Setup shot of Laurel Gu, Research Manager, Mintel Reports China, during interview
16. Cutaway shot of people working in office
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Laurel Gu, Research Manager, Mintel Reports China:
"We do see that China's economy has been slowing over the past few years, but what is worth noticing is that it is mainly the second industry sector, just the manufacturing industry sector that is dragging the economy, but it actually had relatively less of an impact on consumer spending."
AP TELEVISION
Barcelona, Spain - 24 February 2016
18. Various of new Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone on display at press launch
19. Various of media looking at new Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone at press launch
AP TELEVISION
Barcelona, Spain - 21 February 2016
20. Various of people using Huawei MateBook at press launch
AP TELEVISION
Barcelona, Spain - 22 February 2016
21. Tilt up from people to Huawei logo at Mobile World Congress
AP TELEVISION
Shanghai, China - 10 May 2016
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Laurel Gu, Research Manager, Mintel Reports China:
"We do see consumers changing in their behaviour in terms of their selection of brands. So within the technology industry, we see that people are becoming more sophisticated and educated so they pay more attention to product details rather than just paying a lot of money for big brand names. So that's why we see domestic technology brands like Xiaomi and Huawei they have been gaining share in terms of volume in the smartphone market for example."
AP TELEVISION
Shanghai, China - 25 May 2015
23. Wide tilt down of Audi R8 e-tron driverless car at CES Asia
24. Pull focus of Audi logo on car
25. Close of e-tron logo
26. Various of Mercedes-Benz F 015 concept car on display at CES Asia
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The second annual CES (Consumer Electronics Show) Asia is set to kick-off this week in Shanghai, but the top tech trend at the three-day event appears to be anyone's guess.
China's slowing smartphone market means VR headsets, wearable devices or even 3D printing could dominate proceedings.
STORY-LINE:
Tech is set to take off in Shanghai.
The second annual CES Asia - a Shanghai version of the popular Las Vegas event - starts this week in China.
More than 300 companies from 23 different countries are set to attend, exhibiting everything from 3D printers and drones to wearable devices and VR headsets.
Floor space has almost doubled in comparison to last year's debut event, from two halls to four.
But one tech category not so prominent at this year's event appears to be smartphones.
According to global market researchers Mintel, China's technology and communications market quickly grew between 2010 and 2013, the booming smartphone market acting as a strong driver.
But in the last two years, saturation has meant that growth has slowed.
"We don't see a lot of - let's say - smartphone vendors or PC vendors joining in the show this time around," says Jason Low, a tech industry analyst at Canalys.
"So, I also believe that the market is now looking for something new, looking for the next trend, next exciting product and the focus is not on smartphones, it's not on tablets, it's not on PCs anymore."
What that next tech trend could be appears to be anyone's guess, but one potential trend-setter is virtual reality.
South Korean tech maker Samsung is in attendance at this year's event, demonstrating its Gear VR headset, released last autumn.
"So virtual reality and augmented reality, have been hyped - I wouldn't say hyped - but a very heated market where a lot of players are joining in right now," says Low.
"So, vendors, content providers, game publishers, everyone wants a pie from this VR and AR. So, over here we can see that in this CES, this year round, we see there are three, at least three to four local vendors joining in."
While wearables are yet to take off as much as industry experts once predicted, there'll be plenty of tech companies exhibiting smart devices at CES Asia.
"Wearables, they are still here and they're going to improve on a lot of things," says Low.
"So from my point of view, I'm expecting an improvement on design, an improvement on battery life, an improvement on the data that they track."
Buzzing 3D printers are similarly yet to hit the mainstream, Low says that's where he expects them to stay for a little while longer.
"I can see there's a focus on 3D printing, but in terms of consumer interest, it might not be the case," he says.
"3D printing might be very interesting towards enterprise users, let's say they want to create new things or new design or prototyping, so that suits that use cases. But in terms of normal end users like you and me, we don't rely on 3D printing. Not yet at this point in time."
China's economic growth slowed to a seven-year low of 6.7 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Manufacturing and other activity has been lacklustre despite government stimulus efforts which include a boost in bank lending and an easing of controls on real estate sales.
Global market researchers Mintel say China's recent economic slowdown has had relatively little impact on purchasing.
"We do see that China's economy has been slowing over the past few years," says Laurel Gu, research manager at Mintel Reports China.
"But what is worth noticing is that it is mainly the second industry sector, just the manufacturing industry sector that is dragging the economy, but it actually had relatively less of an impact on consumer spending."
Although impact on consumer spending appears to be small, Gu says they have noticed tech buyers are now less willing to pay higher prices for well-known brands.
That's good news for Chinese brands Huawei and Xiaomi who last year became the top two brands in terms of sales volume share in China.
"We do see consumers changing in their behaviour in terms of their selection of brands," says Gu.
"So within the technology industry, we see that people are becoming more sophisticated and educated so they pay more attention to product details rather than just paying a lot of money for big brand names. So that's why we see domestic technology brands like Xiaomi and Huawei they have been gaining share in terms of volume in the smartphone market for example."
Another potential top trend at CES Asia is smart cars, well-known German brands BMW and Mercedes are both in attendance.
The second annual CES Asia runs 11-13 May. More than 30,000 visitors are expected to attend.
