I’m not sure if Microsoft is following Apple’s footsteps from a few years ago, but it was announced earlier today that after CES2012, Microsoft is pulling out of Consumer Electronics Show (CES).

From Microsoft’s Blog: “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.”

For the last 20 years, Microsoft has been a big part of CES. The opening keynote has been given by Microsoft’s Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer during those 20 years.

Now, there have been some posts that say Microsoft is pulling out completely. As far as this blog goes, it sounds like Microsoft is only relinquishing the Opening keynote spot. Not the Microsoft booth.

Still, one has to wonder what this means for the Consumer Electronics Show. The opening keynote was always a hot ticket for the show – How do you replace that? Better yet, is there anyone that can replace that?