3M 'reintroducing' itself at major electronics expo in Las Vegas

With three towers rising 27 feet above a convention center floor, 3M is aiming to make a big splash at CES, the huge electronics expo in Las Vegas next week.

Amid a crowded exhibit hall alongside many of the world's biggest brands in personal tech, 3M hopes to draw customers and consumers who might know the company only as the Post-it people — or worse as those PFAS folks.

"It's a reintroduction," said Collin Hummel, 3M's senior manager of brand sponsorships. "We're answering the question, 'Why is 3M at CES?' And once you explain it, it makes complete sense because so much of what they see there, we play a part in."

Maplewood-based 3M is a major player in electronics — it was a $3.3 billion business in 2022 — but many of its products are components used by other well-known brands, limiting consumer awareness.

With one tower coated in greenery, another in reflective road materials and another decorated with various films used in TV screens, cellphones and electric vehicles, the focus will be on sparking conversations to re-frame how people think about 3M.

"We stand out, literally, when you walk in," Hummel said. "And this isn't us just rehashing products that we've talked about at CES in the past. This is an all-new focus."

CES is often a launchpad for new products that set the tone for the year to come in tech. 3M will be unveiling a communications headset that uses indoor or outdoor light to charge — the first of its kind in the world, which will be "a real game-changer," said Peter Berghamn, business director of 3M's Peltor brand of headsets.

Made in collaboration with Swedish firm Exeger, the "light-harvesting" headsets contain all the other modern features for worksite communications gear, like Bluetooth, noise canceling, glove-friendly buttons and ambient microphones to hear surroundings without taking off the headphones.

Wide adoption of the headsets, which go on sale in March, could save millions of batteries from ending up in landfills every year.

"The environmental benefits of replacing single-use batteries alone will have a significant positive impact for the industry and help set a new standard in convenience and sustainability," Exeger CEO Giovanni Fili said in a statement.

Tech for battling climate change is one of 3M's key focus areas in the years ahead as the 121-year-old firm attempts to move past years of litigation and declining returns for investors.

Barclays analyst Julian Mitchell pointed out in a November report the company is "prioritizing attractive markets where the company can innovate through its material science capabilities and in emerging technology areas like climate tech, industrial automation and next-gen electronics."

Demand for consumer electronics has fallen in recent years, especially in China, dragging down 3M's overall sales and contributing to layoffs and other cost-saving measures. But that's expected to improve in the year ahead.

"We expect [3M's] growth in 2024 to be led by electronics, where we estimate a 12% sales increase, after mid-teens declines in 2023," Mitchell wrote.

Another focus of 3M's CES display is automation. Reflective strips that vehicle sensors can use to "read the road" and help drivers stay in their lanes will coat one of 3M's towers at the trade show.

The consumer electronics tower will lean into 3M's well-established role in devices, such as films that increase screen brightness while using less energy. The company estimates that innovation has saved enough energy over the past 20 years to power the world for five days.

The CES exhibit is similar to the brand-building done at the 3M Open, where the company puts its materials to use and on display around the TPC Twin Cities golf course in Blaine.