Hardware gets its turn in the spotlight at Disrupt 2023

Let’s start with an obvious truth: Hardware is hard. We’ve all heard the cliché — and implicitly understand it to be truth. The good news is such difficulties give us a lot to talk about — and as it happens, for the first time, hardware is getting its own stage at Disrupt 2023.

The event, which is hitting San Francisco’s Moscone Center September 19-21, 2023, will shake up the show you know and love. That’s right folks, Disrupt is getting disrupted, and we are its disruptors. We’re adding six industry stages to the show, each focused on a distinct aspect of TechCrunch’s coverage: AI, fintech, hardware, SaaS, security and sustainability.

What that means, in practical terms, is that each of these categories is getting a full day of stage programming — panels, firesides, the whole nine. By now you’re probably saying, “Brian, first of all, this is exciting news, and second of all, it’s impossible to cover the entirety of hardware in a single do.” To that I say, first of all, thank you, and second of all, yes that is a very astute and well-reasoned question, but as problems go, it’s a good one to have.

As with any broad category, excitement tends to ebb and flow. I would argue that we’re currently barreling toward the latter. It’s been a rough couple of years for hardware broadly — and like everything else in this world, it’s coming out the other end transformed. Trust me, you’re going to want to tune in for this one.

Robotics has been top of mind in recent years — in fact, the last three have been among the most exciting in the category’s history. Automation is on the verge of transforming every aspect of our lives, for better and worse. It’s a revolution that’s already well under way, and we’ll be exploring the topic from some novel angles.

I’m equally excited to finally give consumer electronics the love they deserve on the Disrupt stage. We’re talking mobile. We’re talking AR/VR/MR. We’re talking space. We’re talking hardware investing, design and manufacturing. Like the rest of you, we’d really love to discuss what’s next for smartphones after several down years. With Apple expected to announce a headset in June, the XR scene is set to be blown wide open.

Meanwhile, supply chain constraints and security concerns have caused many to rethink how the world manufacturers. And as for space, it’s big, cold and ever-expanding, apparently. There’s quite literally more of it to talk about with each passing day.

Disrupt runs September 19-21 at Disrupt 2023 in SF. Early Bird passes are currently on sale — save $800 when you book by May 14. Seriously, what are you waiting for?