Steve Ballmer gave Microsoft's last keynote at the Consumer Electronics Show Monday night



From PCWorld:

There's been much hand-wringing this year about whether CES is on the decline. Skeptics point to the fact that Apple, the new trend setter in consumer electronics, doesn't take part in the event. And the show has produced few game-changing products in recent years.

Microsoft's departure is a big setback, according to Nathan Brookwood, principal analyst at Insight64 and a longtime CES-goer. He expects 2012 to be a high-water mark for the show, and for it to decline in importance from here on.

  After Microsoft, What Next for CES?