CES 2012 Will Be Microsoft's Last CES Keynote, Showing
CES 2012 will be the last CES event that Microsoft will present a keynote and display products in a booth.
The Official Microsoft blog reports that the company will no longer provide the CES keynote presentation after the 2012 event taking place in Las Vegas next month. Even more, Microsoft won't even have a booth because the company's product news milestones "generally don’t align with the show’s January timing."
"As we look at all of the new ways we tell our consumer stories – from product momentum disclosures, to exciting events like our Big Windows Phone, to a range of consumer connection points like Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft.com and our retail stores – it feels like the right time to make this transition," the company said on Wednesday.
Microsoft said that it came to this decision after thinking about when the right time and place would be to make announcements, and is the company adjusting to the changing dynamics of its customers. "After thinking about questions like these, we have decided that this coming January will be our last keynote presentation and booth at CES," Microsoft added.
Later the CEA, the organization that makes the CES event possible, responded to Microsoft's announcement with a statement of its own, reporting that both Microsoft and CEA have agreed that it was time for the Redmond company to end its fourteen-year run.
"In the fourteen years that we have invited Microsoft to deliver a keynote address at CES, the company has unveiled some great innovations, from operating systems to gaming platforms to mobile technologies," reads the statement. "Both CEA and Microsoft have agreed that the time has come to end this great run, and so Microsoft will not have a keynote at the 2013 CES."
"Microsoft has also informed us that, although their plans for the 2013 CES are not yet finalized, they will not request the Central Hall exhibit space that they have used in past years," the statement continues. "Microsoft is an important member of CEA and we wish them all the best as they evolve their plans for new ways to tell consumer stories. We also look forward to their CES keynote on January 9, 2012."
Next month Steve Ballmer will reportedly focus on Windows Phone and the company's Xbox entertainment story. The keynote won't provide any significant news, but rather serve as more of a wrap up of the strong year the company has had in the consumer sector.
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Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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cookoy January is probably not the best time to do a major trade show event as most executives and their staffs are still suffering from holiday season fatigue and hangover and work amnesiaReply -
digitalzom-b back_by_demandBallmer playing basketball?"I'M OPEN!!!!"Reply
He's actually doing the creep walk. -
jaquith Yeah I heard this on the news this morning (TV), and I really don't think it's sending a 'good signal' to the users of their products. I guess now that Steve Jobs is gone Microsoft 'feels' there's no more competition -- IMO a VERY ARROGANT stance.Reply -
southernshark Its a good move. Few retail customers attend CES. They were paying a lot of money to be in contact with people who they were already in contact with. And as others have noted its a waste of money to have a show like that in January when no one is buying and no one is introducing new products. I'm sure that MS approached CES about the possibility of changing the show but were rebuked.Reply -
DRosencraft Reply9335843 said:Yeah I heard this on the news this morning (TV), and I really don't think it's sending a 'good signal' to the users of their products. I guess now that Steve Jobs is gone Microsoft 'feels' there's no more competition -- IMO a VERY ARROGANT stance.
I don't see how this has anything at all to do with Apple. In fact, since Apple has been doing their own litle product show the same time as CES if anything this gets them out from under that umbrella. Truth be told, few people are paying attention to a tech show at the end of January unless they're really into that sort of thing. If you're tryig to reach a bigger audience, and already never have anything ready to show off at a show like this, there's no point in forcing yourself to show up.
On another note, I highly doubt there will be a shocking/stunning product reveal (XBox Loop) at this final CES. As far as we know Microsoft isn't pulling out of E3, so undercutting their platform at the biggest gaming show of the year by pushing it out at a general tech show several months earlier is not the best idea. All their steam would fizzle a great deal by summer. -
nameon in 2009 the year of modern gpu's i fell in love with tomshardwareReply
now i wish it just die, always portraying apple as superior - apple may be great but they aren't superior to google or microsoft - no one is, BAD "opinion" articles, LATE NEWS, always portraying steve ballmer as some ape - not cool he may have done mistakes but hes still alright he brought us a great win 7, win 7.5 and soon win 8
post PC era my ass..... im looking at you wolfgang!!!!! -
nameon i meant WP 7.5 and forgot to include a good run for xbox 360 and introduction of the excellent KinectReply