CEA confirms Apple-related exhibits at CES 2010

CES 2010 will have several Apple-related booths to visit, but are Apple and CEO Steve Jobs really planning to attend?

(Credit: James Martin/CNET News)

The Consumer Electronics Association has confirmed plans to host a Mac-centric area at CES 2010, but Apple has still not commented on whether it plans to participate.

Jason Oxman of the CEA confirmed Saturday that the group "dedicated a special area at the 2010 CES to Apple-related CE manufacturers." That immediately sets up an alternative for companies thinking about exhibiting at Macworld 2010, which will not have Apple present for the first time in 12 years.

"We decided to create this special area based on discussions we've had with companies regarding 2010 show participation. We are pleased with the feedback we've received regarding this space," Oxman said in an e-mail.

Oxman, however, deferred all questions regarding whether Apple would participate to the company itself, which did not return calls Friday and Saturday seeking comment on reports that it will be involved. "(Apple) is a member of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and we are delighted to have a longstanding relationship with them," he said.

Cult of Mac and AppleInsider reported Friday that Apple would indeed be present at next year's CES, calling it a "done deal." Such a move would be quite surprising given Apple's December statement that it was pulling out of Macworld 2010 because it no longer felt trade shows were an effective means of reaching its customers.

[punterjoe]

This makes perfect sense, since Apple wants to reach beyond it's base now that it has dropped "computer" from it's name and become a single word entity - like Sony - only successful. :)

[Cheetahjab]

I have to agree with the above comment, the fact is, apple is more then mac.. so a mac centric trade show doesn't reach it's true audience.

[pamon92660]

Narrow Macworld and CES into one show and it's an awesome show that'll boost attendance. With Apple pulling out of Macworld, # of booths at Macworld will drop anyways.

[Mr. Dee]

I agree, IDG and CEA should just merge into one, kick Microsoft out of the keynote exercise crap every year and let Jobs take over and change the schedules from January to October every years. Just in time for the holidays.

[UITD]

Never been to CES but am I understanding this correctly? Apple doesnt have a presence? If not, then why not??

[D3vildog699]

My only guess is that CES is right after macworld. That would be two shows where they need new information or Risk saying the same thing twice.. it would take away the "wow" factor. This way they can get their computers and products in front of non-mac users and hopefully increase the number of macs or apple products they sell, and gain an influence on the real computer market. its a good move in my opinion, could take a while to fully implement but once they do we could very well see an apple Rep (Jobs) doing the keynote. Not that i'm a fanboy or anything i can just see the logic in it.

[UITD]

@D3vildog699: I see the logic in it too. And also not being an Apple fanboy, I understand that getting the Mac in front of non-Apple people is important. But I think they've done that with their stores. I go in one every time I pass by one. The only reason I do not purchase one is because I cant justify spending that amount of money. Its insane. I think that if they really want to increase market share and spike their stock price past the moon - then they announce the allowance of "clones" AND get those prices back down FROM the moon. Its the only way.

[gabeheim]

Imagine the surprise if apple were to have swooped into this year's CES by surprise and announced some awesome new products (with steve jobs giving the keynote). At the very least, it would have been a brilliant way to steal the thunder from MS and windows 7. (No fanboy comments from either side please, I am just observing how strategic a rout that would be).

[David Turner]

Sure it would have stole the thunder from MS and windows 7 along with many other companies press statements but it would have annoyed a great many loyal Mac customers and Mac Suppliers. On the whole I think as a strategic move it would have been a poor one.

[D3vildog699]

@David <br /><br />I think thats why they are starting out with just a couple of booths and moving up to a regular show. It would bring a lot of Macboys into CES and expand their exposure to the rest of the world.

[Penguinisto]

@gabeheim: It would have been a master-stroke, but I doubt the logistics would have been there. All the Apple stuff (computers, phones, PMP's, etc) would have still been hundreds of miles off at MacWorld. <br /><br />Also, the trick isn't to steal thunder from Windows 7... <br /><br />The biggest reason Vista flopped as hard as it did was due to the monster amount of hype MSFT gave it (e.g. "the WOW starts NOW!"), only to see it get run over by a shipload of failure with bugs, bloat, and widespread general woes. <br /><br />If you let MSFT get carried away again, odds are good that it is likely to fail when the product doesn't meet the overly-high expectations set for it. <br /><br />I can say this because of simple research, even in this website's talkbacks... In the months leading up to Vista RTM, the fanboys were positively raving about how cool it was, and how much of a game-changer it was supposed to be. According to those same folks, it was supposed to be this really cool thing... And yet when it released to the world, it came out totally different from the betas, and sucked hard when it met OEM attempts to make it run.<br /><br />Sometimes, the best way to defeat a competitor is to let them stumble on their own, ne? <br /><br />Of course, if Windows 7 turns out to be something decent, then all bets are off. But, in order to do that, I'm suspecting that the feature set will be fairly light (and certainly not game-changing), which again gives the competition room for making some killer marketing points. Right now, Windows 7 still has to outshine XP, let alone its competition. The trick will be to see if the folks --who aren't Windows fanboys-- will see that in the product or not. <br /><br />Meanwhile, OSX is about to go full 64bit with Snow Leopard. To be fair, I think that Apple will have its own hurdle in that regard because IIRC Snow Leopard won't support PPC (G4/G5) processors (not sure yet, though)... though this won't affect the majority of users (esp. among 'switchers') - just the folks who have the old-school goods, like myself.<br /><br />Should be an interesting year...<br /><br />/P

[D3vildog699]

Good post Penguin

[Seaspray0]

@penguin. "In the months leading up to Vista RTM, the fanboys were positively raving about how cool it was, and how much of a game-changer it was supposed to be." <br /> <br />I gave an honest opinion of it. I said it was a resource hog. I didn't like that it took 15 GB HDD space just to install it, nor the 1/2 GB min memory requirement (1 GB with aero). I did like the UAC and how they locked down the kernel. Compatability with our corporate apps was fine. Some of the features I found interesting but overall, no real "must have" to warrant upgrading from XP. <br /> <br />You, on the otherhand have made outrageous lies about microsoft products, like "any 13 year old can write a script" to hack a windows box. I'm still waiting for you to find one out of the millions of 13 year olds. I don't care if you don't like microsoft, but when you post a bunch of BS, I will defend them.

[Penguinisto]

@D3vildog: Thx man... it's just an opinion, though. What really will happen is up to folks who aren't you or I. It'll depends on MSFT, Apple, and this time, consumers. <br /><br />@Seaspray: Funny, but the vast majority of fanboys were hotly defending Vista to the teeth, and were extolling the alleged virtues of it left, right, and sideways. Aero was supposed to be the big OSX dock-killer, Vista's internal searching functions (which finally convinced me that no, Fedora's implementation of beagled wasn't the biggest CPU-sucker in existence after all), etc etc...? Sorry, but your alleged negative opinions must've been drowned out. As for the rest? Get a grip. <br /><br />/P

[weeman17]

I think that this is an extremely prudent move on apples part. Going into uncharted territory ( at least for apple) is a good way to be excepted by the public. It is worth a shot and this seems to be a year that will signal a little economic rise (do not quote me one that). This year should bring a whole new playing field.

[solitare_pax]

Agreed - it makes far more sense for Apple to go to the CES to find a new audience and to let the media compare apple against other tech in a one-on-one sort of environment. Face it - the Macworld Expos just lure in the dedicated Mac users, not the switching crowd, and certainly not the dedicated "Ew, its a Mac!" Windows OS users.<br /><br />Besides, having been to a few Mac Expos, they are held more to sell the magazine instead of the Mac.

[OS11]

Apple "as a company" will not attend CES next year or ever. I'm sitting in the las vegas airport right now coming back from CES (since I skipped MacWorld this time around) and while gauging the energy here, Apple would be the talk of the show if it did attend... BUT the mere fact Apple has publicly stated its Apple Stores reach far more customers than a trade show is the end of it... it just won't happen.<br /><br />YES, I could very well see CES having a Mac / iPhone / iPod vendor section... I've seen a TON of iPhones, Macs, iPods in attendees hands and all over the show floor, but if Apple did attend, they'd still be back to the same problem of MacWorld... and would have to have a product rollout when CES decides, not Apple... which is part of the reason Apple at MacWorld is no longer.<br /><br />Lastly, Las Vegas is too sleazy for Apple's presence, this town has no soul... special events in Cupertino or San Francisco is how it's going to work from here on out, sit back and enjoy...

[locomanal]

Apple will not go to CES '10 they will have a booth but nothing more<br />I worked at Apple until 2 days ago and I know!

[geotopia]

Not sure of the Teamster's presence in Vegas (other than Hoffa being buried somewhere just off of the strip), but that's probably the straw that did it in for many exhibitors in San Francisco. At the Moscone, you couldn't plug in an LCD without having a member of the Union do it for you at a highly inflated hourly rate. San Francisco collectively believes it's an inviting city, but it's got terrible parking, expensive restaurants, horrendous freeways, and certain parts of the city smell horribly of urine. It makes Vegas look pretty enticing so Apple's move to CES in LV isn't a surprise. The bridge, Coit Tower, and Lombard are all pretty cool sites, but it's not a viable convention city.

[AppleSuxLeo]

Palm`s Rubinstein is God...Jobs is a has been.

[scott2400]

Hey Leo, do you have a dartboard with Steve Job's picture on it? You sound like a disgruntled ex-employee.

[ShawnLevasseur]

Note that this story had no statement from Apple itself. I suspect that Apple will not be at CES. It would suddenly be a small fish in too big a pond at CES. <br /><br />Apple can have the press flocking to 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino CA at the drop of a press release. If they didn't want to be the 800lb gorilla of a Mac centric show, they are highly unlikely to be a part of a show where they can't be the center of attention, and use their pull to get what they want.<br /><br />Now I do believe that CES, which by many reports has had a smaller turnout and is likely to have a hard time attracting exhibitors due to a poor economy, is trying to woo the vendors who traditionally bypassed CES for Macworld Expo. It's the logical thing for them to try to do. Grab business from a competitor that's suddenly perceived as a show with less going for it.<br /><br />Apple probably hasn't said that they aren't going to CES, because all this has hit rather quickly, and Apple doesn't exactly fire off statements casually. I'm sure that they'll confirm their 'no trade show' stance and brush off CES as well as Macworld Expo.