Microsoft to Cancel Keynote and Booth at CES after 2012

Microsoft, one of the biggest supporters and mainstay attraction at CES for years, will cancel its keynote presentation and booth at the show after 2012.

Frank Shaw, Microsoft's corporate vice president of Corporate Communications, wrote in the blog on early Wednesday, claiming the forthcoming CES in January will be the last time Microsoft will make keynote address and operate a booth.

Shaw explained the reason - in order to catch up with the rapid changes of industry, Microsoft is trying to find better and different way to communicate with consumers.

In his opinion, it's high time for Microsoft to find a new way to reach consumers and tell them its 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.

However, the software company will continue to attend the show in the coming years, as it regard the show as a great place to connect with partners and customers across the PC, phone and entertainment industries.

Why would Microsoft take such a step? A possible reason could be that the timing of CES and the company's product announcements don't quite match.

For instance, at the forthcoming show in Jan., Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is scheduled to introduce its upcoming Windows 8 operating system. However, the company isn't ready until late next year.

They're not cooked yet. So he's going to be stuck trying to present a bunch of stuff that will be months away from being ready, Foxnews reported, citing technology analyst Rob Enderle.

Actually, Apple and Google have long avoided CES, and launched new products at their own events, thereby generating a great amount of buzz and attention from the customers. Following their footsteps, recently, Microsoft also has increasingly tried alternative methods to make major product announcements.

CES (Consumer Electronics Show) is one of the biggest technological trade shows held every January in Las Vegas. In 2011, around 150,000 attended the show. The organizer of the show, Consumer Electronics Association, didn't respond to Microsoft's announcement.