More specifically, CES in January is when laptop OEMs announce their new products, with ship dates staggered over the next several months (though oddball products can sometimes take until September or October to hit the shelves). Laptop chip announcements are usually timed at or slightly before CES, because there's no point announcing a laptop chip out of cycle when it'll be an uphill battle to get OEMs to use the chip. (The importance of annual laptop updates announced at CES also contributes to why laptop CPUs and GPUs almost always get new model numbers every year, even if it isn't new silicon. OEMs don't like having to market a new machine with last year's chip.)