CES 2026 Preview: NVIDIA may reshape physical AI, while robots from China, the U.S., and South Korea showcase their "muscles"

The 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will be held from January 4 to 9 in Las Vegas, USA. CES has always been an important stage for technology companies to unveil their annual new products, showcasing upcoming products as well as devices that are still in the conceptual stage and may not necessarily go into production.

The strategies of chip giants will show significant differentiation at CES 2026, with NVIDIA's focus clearly not on the traditional consumer graphics card market.

• NVIDIA: The anticipated RTX 50 Super series graphics cards (including RTX 5080 SUPER, etc.) may be delayed due to high prices and supply shortages of GDDR7 memory. CEO Jensen Huang's speech will focus on "Physical AI," extending AI computing power to robotics and industrial scenarios. NVIDIA may shift its focus to high-margin products, such as the RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell with 96GB of memory.

• AMD: Adopts a prudent upgrade strategy. The desktop side is expected to launch the Ryzen 9000 series, with the flagship Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 featuring dual-chip 3D V-Cache and an L3 cache of 192MB, targeting workstation users. The mobile side will release the Ryzen AI 400 series (codename Gorgon Point) to strengthen the PC market.

• Intel: Facing a critical battle. It will launch the Intel Core Ultra Series 3 (Panther Lake), expected to include about 14 SKUs. The flagship model Core Ultra X9 388H is equipped with 16 cores and a maximum frequency of 5.1GHz. If it can gain widespread support from OEMs, it will help alleviate market concerns about its advanced process execution capabilities.

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2026 is seen as a key year for humanoid robots to move from demo to workstation, with core highlights focusing on "cost reduction and efficiency enhancement" and "practical verification."

• Chinese Camp (Cost and Mass Production): Yushu and Zhiyuan continue to dominate cost control. Yushu may showcase the G1 mass production version operating on factory assembly lines; Zhiyuan will display the full series of products such as X2, A2, and core components like dexterous hands.

• American Camp (Technical Benchmark): Boston Dynamics' all-electric Atlas will make its first public demonstration, directly competing with Tesla Optimus, showcasing its commercialization potential.

• Korean Camp (Industry Chain Cohesion): Korea will showcase the "K-Humanoid" alliance, led by Rainbow Robotics, which is invested by Samsung. Exhibits include the wheeled chassis industrial humanoid robot HMND 01 Alpha (height 220 cm, load 15 kg), demonstrating Korea's ambition for integration across the entire industry chain from components to complete machines.

Edge AI and XR: The Android Camp's Counterattack and Chinese Manufacturers' "Lightweight" Breakthrough

The XR market is currently undergoing a "digestive period" following the release of Apple Vision Pro, with CES 2026 set to be the starting point for the Android camp's counterattack.

• Samsung/Google Alliance: Samsung will debut the Galaxy XR glasses, which won the CES Innovation Award, powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 3 chip, running the Android XR system and deeply integrated with Gemini AI, attempting to build an ecosystem to compete with Apple.

• Chinese Manufacturers (Lightweight Path): Alibaba and Rokid are leading the trend of "lightweight AI glasses," avoiding the spotlight of heavy headsets. Alibaba will showcase the Quark AI Glasses S1, equipped with the Qianwen AI assistant; Rokid Glasses will focus on practical scenarios such as real-time translation and AR navigation.

• Smart Home: Robotic vacuum cleaners have entered a "micro-innovation" phase. Ecovacs (X11 Omni Cyclone) and Dreame are no longer solely pursuing parameters but are promoting the evolution of devices into autonomous service agents by introducing cyclone separation structures, GaN fast charging, and four-legged obstacle-crossing technology.

Automotive Industry: Transitioning from "Software Defined" to "AI Defined," Chip Arms Race Upgrades

The automotive industry is undergoing a deep transformation in its technological architecture, with the competitive landscape for smart driving chips becoming increasingly clear.

• Chip Arms Race:

  • NVIDIA: Dominating the high-end L4 market with the Thor chip (2000 TOPS computing power), companies like ZEEKR plan to achieve mass production by 2025.

  • Qualcomm: Although its AI computing power is not as strong as NVIDIA's, it has successfully entered the supply chains of Li Auto and Mercedes-Benz with the "cockpit and driving integrated" architecture of the Snapdragon Ride Elite platform.

  • Mobileye: Maintaining a cost-performance advantage in the L2+ market with the EyeQ6 Lite, occupying a stronghold in mass-produced models.

• Vehicle Technology: Geely (Galaxy A7 equipped with Thor AI hybrid 2.0, thermal efficiency 47.26%) and Great Wall (VLA full-scene large model) have demonstrated the leading advantages of Chinese automakers in architectural innovation. Overseas, BMW will showcase the iX3 based on the Neue Klasse architecture, integrating Alexa+ technology.

Hardware Form Breakthrough: Lenovo's Rollable Screen and TV Manufacturers' AI Picture Quality Battle

Faced with the innovation ceiling of traditional hardware, manufacturers are beginning to explore radical form breakthroughs.

• Lenovo: Will showcase the ThinkBook Plus Gen 7 Auto Twist (AI-driven automatic rotating screen) and the ThinkPad Rollable XD (rollable screen laptop) as practical operational prototypes, attempting to resolve the conflict between large screens and portability.

• Display Technology: TCL and Hisense continue to deepen their Mini-LED offerings. TCL has launched the SQD-MiniLED, while Hisense showcases the RGB-Mini LED, both emphasizing the dynamic optimization capabilities of AI image processors for picture quality, attempting to tell a new display story with AI