2012 CES will be Microsoft’s last hurrah Microsoft has said that Steve Ballmer’s opening keynote for the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) in January will be the last time a Redmond head takes the stage, and it won’t be having an exhibition stand at the show after 2012 either. The move ends nearly 20 years of Microsoft’s involvement with the show, both in giving the …
Why would MS invest all that money going year after year to CES when their retails stores are doing so fantastically well?
They can also get their particular brand of lock0in out to the punters well enough by simply making all those who have signed up for their patent scam display only devices that have their blessing. That means Winblose phones only. No Android allowed.
Plus it means that Mr Balmer will no longer have to embarrass himself and everyone who works for MS when he stands up and delivers his keynote speech.
Win-win then (not)
The pace of new technology might also have something to do with Microsoft's decision. a once a year event is no longer suitable for product releases. CES should return to its roots as a consumer electronics showcase, and remove all the software elements which should be left to individual vendor events (Microsoft Show, Apple Show, etc, etc.) CES should also only be about next generation technology, not current tech. Visitors should get a glimpse of what might be new in 1 or two years time and not todays tech in a gazillion different but yet strangely similar form factors.
What exactly does MS have to show off at CES? How many consumer electronics products do they even make?
There is the XBox, Kinect, erm, keyboards, mice and joysticks and that is about it. All the rest of the consumer electric stuff is manufactured and sold by partners.
Windows Phone 7 updates? They have Mobile World Congress in February, which would be a better platform.
Windows 8? Maybe a preview of the Alpha.
The CES show is at the wrong time of year for Microsoft, the same for Apple and MacWorld and CES, so it doesn't really fit in with key product announcements and those announcements are more software related and less consumer electronics related, so MS don't really fit in at CES.
And if CEA want MS to pay more for the stand and keynote, that it would cost MS to hold their own event, it makes more sense to hold their own event at a more suitable time.
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