Sony Is Skipping CES 2027 for the First Time in Decades

Sony will skip CES 2027, breaking a decades-long run of participation at the technology show as the company places greater emphasis on entertainment, intellectual property and technology designed for creators.

Neither Sony Group nor its affiliates plan to exhibit at the January event. Sony confirmed the decision in a statement to Bloomberg, saying it continues to reassess how and where it communicates the priorities of its different businesses.

Sony products were displayed at the inaugural Consumer Electronics Show in 1967, while Sony says its first formal exhibition came at the Summer CES in Chicago in June 1977. The company subsequently became one of the event's long-running exhibitors, using CES to present new technology and explain changes in its wider business strategy.

The show was particularly important when Sony was more heavily associated with consumer electronics. Televisions, audio equipment, imaging technology and later gaming and automotive projects all featured across its appearances as CES evolved from a traditional electronics show into a broader technology event.

Sony described CES as an important venue for introducing new technology as recently as its 2024 appearance, making the decision to sit out the 2027 show a notable break from a relationship built over several decades.

Sony says its changing event plans reflect a wider shift in what the company wants to prioritise.

Its current corporate strategy increasingly brings together PlayStation, music, film, anime and other entertainment businesses while using technology to support creators and expand the value of existing intellectual property. Sony's Creative Entertainment Vision similarly focuses on connecting entertainment with tools and technology that can help produce and distribute new experiences.

That direction moves the company further from the traditional consumer-electronics identity that made CES such a natural venue in previous decades. Sony still develops hardware and remains active in areas including imaging technology, but entertainment and IP now play a much larger role in how the group presents its long-term plans.

The company has also been developing more targeted ways to demonstrate creator-focused technology. Its Sony Entertainment Technology Showcase brings engineers and entertainment professionals together around production tools and experimental technology aimed specifically at games, music, film and other creative industries.

The withdrawal did not happen in a single step. Sony did not operate its own booth at CES 2026, although the Sony Honda Mobility joint venture exhibited AFEELA at the show.

That left Sony connected to CES through the joint venture even as Sony Group itself reduced its presence. CES 2027 goes further, with neither Sony nor its affiliates currently planning to exhibit.

Sony has not announced a replacement event tied directly to the decision or said whether it could return to CES in a later year. For 2027, however, one of the show's longest-standing technology companies will be absent as Sony continues shifting how it presents a business increasingly built around entertainment, IP and creator technology.