CES 2026’s New Power Layout: Samsung Relocates as Chinese Brands Take the Center
- CBO Editorial
- Nov 19
- 3 min read
C-Suite Notes: The upcoming CES 2026 reshuffle signals a symbolic shift in global consumer tech—Samsung relocating to an off-site venue as Chinese brands take the exhibition’s most visible territory.
Samsung’s long-held central-hall presence at CES is about to be rewritten. For the first time in more than twenty years, the company is leaving its prime location at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) for a vast standalone showcase at the Wynn/Encore complex. In its place, China’s TCL will take over Samsung’s former 3,368 m² booth—the single largest footprint in the central hall.
The shift has triggered a domino effect across the showfloor. Hisense will now occupy TCL’s old location, Changhong will take over Hisense’s, and Dreame Technology will move into the booth used last year by SK Group. With these moves, the symbolic center of CES 2026 will be dominated almost entirely by Chinese consumer-electronics firms, marking a noticeable rebalancing of visibility and narrative power. At the same time, Lenovo chairman and CEO Yang Yuanqing is slated to deliver one of the event’s keynote addresses—another sign of China’s consolidated presence at the global stage.
Samsung’s Relocation: A Strategic Recalibration
Samsung has not framed its move as a step back. In public statements and Korean industry coverage, the company notes that relocating to Wynn/Encore allows it to integrate separate TV, appliance and ecosystem events into a 4,628 m² unified showcase. A controlled venue offers Samsung more freedom to architect its narrative—without the constraints of the traditional booth format.
This repositioning aligns subtly with a broader pattern in Samsung’s global strategy:
Enterprise and infrastructure categories are gaining weight.Recent CES cycles have spotlighted datacenter memory, AI servers, advanced semiconductors, and commercial displays—areas with B2B and B2B2C buyer groups.
Automotive electronics is emerging as a growth engine.Harman, Samsung’s automotive subsidiary, increasingly uses CES as its main venue for OEM and mobility partnerships.
Global consumer-electronics categories are maturing. TV demand is flat in many regions, and Chinese brands have gained share on value and scale.
Samsung continues to be a consumer powerhouse, but its CES presence now reflects a company balancing mass-market visibility with enterprise-oriented expansion. The Wynn/Encore format fits that evolution.
China Moves In: The New Dominant Set of Brands in Consumer Electronics
Chinese companies have wasted no time seizing the prime real estate Samsung leaves behind. Unlike incumbents shifting toward curated environments, many Chinese brands still rely heavily on CES’s public showfloor for global consumer visibility, retailer reach, and brand trust in Western markets.
TCL moves into the hall’s most prominent booth, reinforcing its ambitions in premium displays.
Hisense continues its push as a top-three global TV maker by volume.
Changhong and Dreame extend the depth of Chinese representation across appliances, home systems, and robotics.
Together, their presence forms a visible cluster of Chinese influence at the literal center of CES, reinforcing China’s direction-setting role in consumer hardware categories that once belonged firmly to Korean and Japanese incumbents.
CES 2026 Power Layout and What It Signals Now
The CES 2026 power layout reflects more than simple booth assignments. It reveals how global brands are rethinking:
how they compete
how they perform visibility
and how they narrate innovation on the world stage
For Chinese firms, proximity to the central hall’s foot traffic and press corridors is a brand-building multiplier. For Samsung, shifting off-site allows tighter orchestration of messaging, partnerships, and enterprise briefings.
What emerges is a dual-track exhibition logic: The public arena strengthens Chinese retail-focused brands, while controlled environments increasingly serve diversified conglomerates whose influence extends into systems, infrastructure, and mobility.
A Reconfigured CES for a Reconfigured Industry
CES once functioned as the singular global showcase for televisions, smartphones, and emerging consumer categories. Today, the industry is more fragmented, and so are its exhibition strategies:
Some companies skip entirely, like SK Group.
Some build ecosystems inside hotels, like Samsung.
Some claim visibility through physical centrality, like TCL and Hisense.
Automotive, AI, and enterprise categories now occupy more narrative weight than household devices.
CES 2026 will reflect all of these forces at once:a maturing consumer-electronics market, an assertive Chinese cohort, and a shift in how global tech brands choose to be seen—and choose not to be seen.
Conclusion: A New Map of Influence
What unfolds next January is more than a spatial reshuffle. CES 2026 will serve as a live diagram of shifting influence across global tech:
Samsung’s relocation signals a maturing view of how to manage visibility.
Chinese brands claiming the center marks a new phase of global confidence.
The showfloor becomes a strategic canvas, where absence is as telling as presence.
In a year crowded with AI hype cycles, mobility advances, and rising geopolitical competition, CES 2026’s most important story may be the simplest:the map changed—even before the product unveilings began.
Comments