The 2012 CES will be the last for Microsoft

For 20 years, Microsoft has had a big presence at CES, but this upcoming CES in 2012 will be Microsoft’s last. It seems that in much the same way Apple ditched Macworld a few years ago in order to have their own giant press events on their own time, so Microsoft wants to be able to have their own big unveilings outside of the normal CES cycle.

The MS press release:

Our industry moves fast and changes faster. And so the way we communicate with our customers must change in equally speedy ways. To ensure it does, we constantly challenge our assumptions. For example:

· What’s the right time and place to make announcements?
· Are we adjusting to the changing dynamics of our customers?
· Are we doing something because it’s the right thing to do, or because “it’s the way we’ve always done it”?

After thinking about questions like these, we have decided that this coming January will be our last keynote presentation and booth at CES. We’ll continue to participate in CES as a great place to connect with partners and customers across the PC, phone and entertainment industries, but we won’t have a keynote or booth after this year because our 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.

Microsoft has enjoyed a close to 20-year working relationship with the Consumer Electronics Association – and we look forward to working with CEA for many years to come.

CES kicks off January 9th. If anyone is going to the show, send me a message through the submit link with your contact info if you want to submit photos or stories.