Shapiro Has Concerns Tempered With Realism on Electronics Ban, at Shanghai Event Where Tech Is Demo'd
SHANGHAI -- CTA President Gary Shapiro walked a line between hope and disappointment at CES Asia (see 1706070031) Thursday on Trump administration trade policies. In response to our question on what he would like to see on trade, Shapiro said, “We were very disappointed that he pulled out of the Trans-Pacific agreement,” saying the Trans-Pacific Partnership was a “zero-tariff deal among 20 countries.” The administration’s trade stance is “not as terrible as some of us had feared, but it’s not as good as it could be still -- especially with the importance of trade to our future,” Shapiro said.
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Asked about CTA’s concerns about the impact on the electronics industry if governments impose a ban on electronics aboard airplanes an anti-terrorism measure, Shapiro noted publicized intelligence involving the possibility of plastic explosives being placed in a tablet PC. Some countries, including the U.S., discussed banning passengers from bringing portable electronics larger than a smartphone on airplanes, he said, saying he isn’t privy to intelligence reports.
Shapiro cited the PanAm flight from London to New York in 1988 that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, after an explosive device was placed inside a radio cassette player. For a week or two after that event, all electronics were banned from airplanes, Shapiro recalled. “I actually went around and tried to convince government agencies that this is a terrible thing and it could have been put in a perfume bottle or a book.”
The electronics industry can help combat terrorism as sensing devices become better at providing voice, microfacial and biometric analysis, Shapiro said. While those are contributions the tech industry can make, he said, “I am not one to question whether there’s actionable intelligence that requires a ban.” Most attendees at CES Asia reached Shanghai by air, “and we like to be safe when we fly,” he said.
Meanwhile, CTA reported that social media has a prominent role in Chinese consumers’ lives. Some 63 percent use messaging platforms to connect with personal contacts, 49 percent engage with social content by liking and commenting on posts daily or multiple times a week, and 28 percent use social media in their professional lives. Smartphones are the preferred devices for interacting via social media because they’re “always at hand,” it said. Some 95 percent of Chinese consumers have an account with WeChat, the leading social networking site, said CTA, and 88 percent of Chinese consumers use their smartphones to shop online. Connectivity is shaping Chinese consumers’ lifestyles more dramatically than in other countries, said Steve Koenig, senior director-market research. “Brands must understand how this mobile connection shapes Chinese personal networks, content consumption and buying behavior.”
Back at the conference and on original concerns that President Donald Trump “would blow up” the North American Free Trade Agreement, they didn’t materialize and a lot of agreements are being made with Canada and with Mexico, whose currency is equivalent to what it was before Trump was elected, said Shapiro. “We’re seeing from the Trump administration that nothing terrible is happening yet in trade, other than some words, and the rhetoric has definitely been scaled back."
Citing uncertainty in Washington over trade, Shapiro praised U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and said there’s a desire in Congress to focus on free trade. On Trump's position on trade, he said the president is “figuring out that there’s three branches of government, each of which is exercising some control.” At this point, he said, “I think we’re OK, and I would even be happy with the status quo for a while.”
Also at the show, smart home company Oomi showed devices and a controller before its scheduled July rollout, pushing ease of setup. The company raised $1.7 million “for marketing” in 2015, CEO Winston Cheng told us. Cheng called Z-Wave-based Oomi the “easiest smart home solution” due to a “tap” setup process using near field communication to connect devices to the system.