It’s hard to name a single company that shaped the AI scene in 2025 more than NVIDIA. Amid the Consumer Electronics Show 2025 buzz, NVIDIA stole the spotlight with generative physical AI and agentic AI demos. With CES 2026 around the corner, the company looks ready to shake the tech world again. Its plan to use smartphone-style memory chips in AI servers could push server-memory prices up by late 2026. That shift may shrink global smartphone shipments by 2.1% next year. Let’s break down what’s coming up at CES 2026 and see if major tech players can turn 2026 into a successful year.
When Is CES 2026? Dates, location
The next Consumer Electronics Show (CES) runs January 6–9, 2026, in Las Vegas, with media previews and select events starting as early as January 4 and 5. As always, product demos, announcements, and networking will take place at the Las Vegas Convention Center and hotels across the city. Gadget Flow’s team will be at CES 2026 in person and online, bringing you news and hands-on coverage straight from the show floor.
NVIDIA CES 2026
NVIDIA plans a keynote from CEO Jensen Huang. The event listing promises a look at solutions that “showcase the latest NVIDIA solutions driving innovation and productivity across industries.” That line feels vague, so rumors do the real talking.
Talk around the industry points to a mid-cycle refresh of the GeForce 50-series Blackwell cards under the SUPER name. BenchLife.info says NVIDIA aims for a launch in late Q1 or early Q2 of 2026, with a possible reveal at CES 2026. The SUPER range may expand the stack with RTX 5070 SUPER, RTX 5070 Ti SUPER, and RTX 5080 SUPER.
Intel CES 2026
NVIDIA’s stock market value, once a fraction of Intel’s, now tops $4 trillion. That raises a big question: can Intel, once the semiconductor superpower, regain momentum from the AI gold rush?
Intel has already announced plans to launch its Panther Lake chips at CES 2026. The Intel Core Ultra Series 3 chips tie into the company’s broader “AI PC” strategy, with a focus on premium laptops. Intel says its first chip built on the 2-nanometer 18A process will deliver 50% more processing performance than previous generations. Intel also claims a 50% performance jump for the Arc GPU compared to last generation.
NVIDIA still sits at the premium end of the market, and Intel’s recent missteps do little to boost confidence. Right now, I’d say AMD feels like the smarter place to look. It costs less than NVIDIA and often stands as the default choice for many buyers.
Motorola CES 2026
Motorola just sent a physical invite to Android Central hinting that a book-style foldable might debut at CES 2026. The emphasis on “unfold” caught my eye, since all of Motorola’s current foldables are Flip devices. I’d love to see a book-style foldable, like the Galaxy Z Fold7, with a tablet-sized inner screen for productivity and media—done in that signature Motorola style.
The mysterious device might sport a wooden finish, inspired by the wooden cover of Motorola’s foldable lamp. It also features the Motorola “M” logo engraved on it, along with the tagline, “every fold reveals a possibility.” Motorola stands out for experimenting with unusual materials, like walnut wood, in its phone designs (not counting Xiaomi’s Redmi K90 Pro Max with a denim back). The company has put serious thought into the Razr series, making it a leader in the flip phone market, while Samsung focuses more on the Fold, often leaving its Flip as a secondary effort.
Motorola’s push for a book-style foldable comes as global foldable smartphone shipments rose 14% year-over-year in Q3 2025, hitting a record quarterly volume. Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold7 series drove the biggest gains. Still, high prices remain the main barrier for broader adoption. Looking beyond 2026, I expect Motorola to compete with Samsung and Google in the foldable market, which could help bring prices down.
Samsung CES 2026
Samsung today announced that it will unveil its latest kitchen appliances lineup at CES 2026, including the latest iterations of its Bespoke AI refrigerator, over-the-range (OTR) microwave, and slide-in range.
At CES, Samsung will present a new Bespoke AI Refrigerator Family Hub, equipped with the upgraded AI Vision. The feature’s key upgrade is its functions built with Google Gemini, which marks the first time that it is being integrated into a refrigerator.
Earlier in December, Samsung had shared its plans to showcase a range of Micro RGB TVs, from 55-inch to 115-inch sizes.
LG CES 2026
We also have news from LG, which will showcase new televisions using Micro RGB technology, with 75-, 86-, and 100-inch models coming next year. LG Display’s new panel is the first in the world to achieve a 240 Hz refresh rate while maintaining an RGB stripe structure. It features the company’s Dynamic Frequency & Resolution (DFR) technology, allowing users to switch directly between high-resolution (UHD 240 Hz) and high-refresh-rate (FHD 480 Hz) modes.
Why was achieving a 240 Hz refresh rate with an RGB stripe structure impossible until now? Each OLED pixel has different brightness at a given voltage, so you need a precise compensation algorithm to make them appear uniform. True OLED RGB panels are harder to optimize than WOLED or QD-OLED (which rely on blue subpixels), and previous algorithms weren’t efficient enough to handle 240 Hz. Many people upgrading from 144 Hz to 240 Hz monitors describe the difference as incredible.
Pricing is another question. With LG’s 115-inch model costing as much as $30,000, I expect the first Micro RGB TVs to rank rank among the most expensive offerings in both LG’s and Samsung’s lineups.
Lenovo CES 2026
Motorola’s parent company, Lenovo, plans to go live at the Sphere, where it will deliver what it calls “breathtaking visuals and immersive sound.” Lenovo hasn’t shared many details yet, but recent leaks from Windows Latest suggest the company will aunch AMD-powered Legion 5a and Legion 7a laptops. These models will feature updated AMD Ryzen AI 400-series APUs alongside NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop GPUs.
Earlier leaks about the AMD Ryzen 400 APUs show that AMD will combine Zen 5 CPU cores with RDNA 3.5 graphics in the next generation. The Ryzen 9 lineup will offer up to 12 cores, while Ryzen 7 variants will ship with 8 cores.
I’ve quite high expectations for Lenovo’s CES lineup. The Lenovo Legion 5i (2025) already proved that you don’t need to spend a fortune to get a capable modern mid-range gaming laptop. I also appreciate how the keyboard works just as well for gaming as it does for typing and everyday work.
Parting thoughts
As CES 2026 nears, I see NVIDIA as the clear force in the room. Their AI demos set a bar few firms reach, and I want to see if server memory moves push ripple effects across phones. Intel talks big with Panther Lake, yet AMD feels like the safer pick for buyers who count cost. Motorola chasing a book-style smartphone grabs my interest since Samsung treats the Flip as a side act. So yeah, CES 2026 will be all about which companies bring real solutions, not just hype.
