Analysis: CES 2026: Three Key Trends and Few Announcements

CES 2026 marked a significant return for smartphones, with major brands, chipmakers, memory suppliers, and ecosystem partners participating at the show.

CES has been less about smartphones in recent years, but at CES 2026, it was a little more. Several smartphone vendors participated, including Samsung, Honor, Motorola, and TCL-Alcatel. In terms of chipsets, Qualcomm and MediaTek were present. On the architecture side, Arm was there, and for memory, Micron Technologies, SK hynix, and Samsung Memory participated. Overall, this year's CES was more significant for the smartphone industry than in recent years. Apart from the larger players, other stakeholders from across the ecosystem were also present.