CES exhibitor says show offers chance to introduce new products in personal way

Walking into Central Hall at the Las Vegas Convention Center, your eyes are immediately attracted to Intel's tree. It springs up from the white ground, and its shining silver trunk perfectly matches the white branches and the black and silver laptop "leaves" that spiral above the CES floor.

It's officially show time.

Through Friday , the 2013 International CES is in Las Vegas, bringing with it 156,000 attendees from the $206 billion consumer electronics industry and more than 3,100 consumer electronics companies. The show is estimated to have a nongaming economic impact of $197.3 million on Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Across the road from Intel, Hisense took over the space vacated by Microsoft last year, giving Hisense a huge presence at the 2013 show.

"We're extremely happy with our position," said David Gold, deputy general manager for Hisense Mexico.

"Being right at the entrance to Central Hall across from Intel gives us great visibility. We've had numerous people come to us and say 'Oh I'm surprised and it's amazing to ,see you guys here' or 'I've never heard of you guys before even though I've been to CES numerous times.'"

Although he didn't have specific dimensions, Gold said the booth is twice the size of the one Hisense had last year.

Because almost all of Hisense's customers come to CES, Gold said the show provides the electronics manufacturer with an opportunity to introduce new products up close and personal.

In the U.S., Hisense products are available in Walmart, which is one of the company's biggest customers. The brand has been in the U.S. market for years manufacturing for other brands, but Gold said now Hisense is focusing on developing its own product under its own name.

"This CES is a great venue for that," Gold said.

In addition to the curious, competitors, including LG Electronics, came to Hisense the first day to check out the goods. Hisense's product line includes U-LED and smart TVs and phones.

On the first day, a never-ending sea of bodies moved through the convention halls, winding their way between exhibits. Performers took to the stages at larger exhibits, and product giveaways abounded.

And TVs were everywhere.

Luckily for manufacturers, approximately one in three consumers plans to purchase a new HDTV within the next 12 months, according to research from the Consumer Electronics Association.

On the opposite end of Central Hall at Samsung, the brand giant was showing off its Series 5 Ultrabook inside its booth, which was huge even by CES standards. White carpets were highlighted by mirrored wall panels. Row after row of lighting hung from truss above the crystal clear electronic displays, including the brand's new LED TVs.

After watching a model walk down the runway on one of the screens, one man said he noticed shoulder hair on her.

"That's the one bad thing about hi-def," he lamented. "You see everything."

Outside the convention center in the silver parking lot, the area had more of a festival atmosphere . The smell of freshly cooked hamburgers wafted from food trucks while DJs played the turntables from the top of a Skull Candy trailer. Just across from that, Skull Candy was showing off its new line of headphones, and just down a bit, Gibson's tent was beckoning guitar players of all ages inside.

On the left-facing wall, Epiphones of varying models were hung, facing the Gibsons. Next to those were the Stanton turntables, including the SCS 4 DJ that connects all your music to the tables with one USB thumb drive.

"There's been a lot of people coming by, considering that we're away from the main area," said Carlito Cobos, who was working the Gibson Pro Audio section at the booth.

Rounding out the offerings inside Gibson were the Onkyo Bluetooth music systems, headphones, guitar straps and the KRK Rokit speaker system. "It's what you would get at a studio but at home," Cobos said.

Outside Gibson, Parrot showed off the capabilities of its AR Drone 2.0, which can go 50 feet in any direction. The drone is available at nine U.S. retailers, including Brookstone and Fry's for $299.