CES is an awkward time for the mobile industry. While mobile devices are the dominant computing platforms of the 2010s—outselling desktops and laptops 6:1, according to Statista—the mobile world's dominant trade show comes just a month after CES, at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Furthermore, Apple, a major player in mobile, never launches products at trade shows.

So most of the major mobile vendors keep their powder dry in Las Vegas, planning bigger blowouts in Barcelona. That's certainly the case for Samsung, whose Galaxy S7 will probably debut in late February at that show. LG, HTC, and Motorola also all appear to be keeping their major phone news on the plane to Spain.

Apple's rumored iPhone 6c and Apple Watch 2, meanwhile, may appear in March at a separate event.

That leaves a bunch of lower-key phone makers, and Windows PC vendors with Windows tablets, holding the floor for mobile at CES. HP, Lenovo, and Dell may be updating their Windows tablet lineups at the show, although we don't have any more specific details about any of those.

Reeling from the underwhelming launch of the Lumia 950, Microsoft won't be showing any new phones at CES. But we're likely to finally see a production version of the Acer Liquid Jade Primo, (at left) the first non-Microsoft Windows 10 Mobile phone to hit the market. The Primo was teased at IFA in September, but now we'll finally see how well it works with Microsoft's Continuum feature, which turns your phone into a desktop PC.

Sony will have a big press conference at the show, but it just deployed its small, medium, and large Z5 phone lineup, also at IFA. The company's tablet lineup is looking a bit old, though, so we wouldn't be altogether surprised to see a 4K, Android-powered Z5 Tablet appear at CES.

AT&T always has a developers' conference at CES, which results in a slew of API announcements and the occasional phone launch. This year, there's probably the lowest chance ever of a major AT&T phone launching at CES, as the conference will be dominated by talk of cars, home security, and the Internet of Things. It looks like BlackBerry will follow suit as well, with a press conference about Everything But Phones.

So How About Phones?
Huawei and ZTE are both big global brands, but they've had some trouble penetrating U.S. consumers' minds. They'll try again at CES. Huawei is teasing that it may bringing its midrange Honor brand to the U.S. at the show, or perhaps the Mate S, with its pressure-sensitive screen. ZTE may bring a new U.S. exclusive version of its unlocked Axon smartphone, or a new generation of its smart projectors.

We're also likely to see some new phones from Alcatel Onetouch. If Alcatel finally explains what it's doing with the Palm brand, which it unexpectedly bought last year and then did nothing with, that would be a coup. But there's a better chance we'll just see a final version of the gigantic Xess kitchen tablet we saw at IFA.

Qualcomm has been dribbling out information on the Snapdragon 820 processor for months now, with a demo event in New York and some scattered benchmark features. We're sure to hear more about the 820 at CES, with hopefully some actual devices—possibly from LG or Sony—in tow.

Mediatek has risen out of the pack of Qualcomm's competitors to offer a serious low-cost threat, and it'll be doubling down at CES, probably with more details on its high-end Helio X20 chipset. Mediatek's major partner, Blu, which makes unlocked phones for the U.S. market, has a press event on Thursday and will probably be deploying a bunch of new phones.

Other, lower-key brands that may be bringing new phones to CES include CAT, which focuses on durable phones, and Freetel, a lower-cost, design-focused Japanese company. (The Freetel Musashi is an interesting Android-powered flip phone, and I'd love to review that.) Hot Chinese brands Xiaomi and Meizu are still largely staying away, because dealing with the U.S. market gives them a headache.