Just before Christmas, Microsoft announced that this would be the last CES show that it would participate in. It decided to withdraw from the show and instead rely on its outside marketing activities and future vertical shows to spread its messages in the marketplace.

This should not surprise many industry followers since CES has been losing support from most of the major PC players over the last few years. Apple has not been involved with CES for years and Dell left four years ago. Even HP has scaled back its involvement in the show this year. Lenovo, who has become the number two PC vendor worldwide, only uses private rooms off-site to hold meetings during CES. However, Toshiba, Acer, Asus and Sony still have a huge presence at CES and seem committed to the show.

There is a trend emerging among most of the major PC vendors. Instead of spending millions of dollars on booths and the staff needed to run them, more are renting private suites in hotels to use for press and customer meetings during the show. In past years, many companies that couldn't afford booths used private suites to show their wares, but now we see richer companies following suit.

Microsoft leaving the show, even though it too will use private suites to its advantage starting next year, is a major milestone. For over a decade, Bill Gates was the marquis attraction for the CES kick off keynote and for the last three years, that duty has fallen to Steve Ballmer. Now, that keynote will go to the highest bidder.

But if you think that all of this signals the decline of CES, think again. I have been going to CES since 1977 and this is the one trade show that has had real staying power. Comdex, PC Expo, and many other tech shows bit the dust. Even CeBIT in Hanover Germany, for decades the biggest tech trade show in Europe, has lost its tech luster. Yet, CES Las Vegas has remained the mainstay consumer tech tradeshow for the U.S. and most of the world. In fact, this year it expects over 150,000 attendees.

It is true that CES has had its ups and downs. In fact, for about a decade beginning in the mid-80s, CES was held twice a year. The big show was in Vegas in January and the mid-year show was in Chicago with a major gaming theme. During Comdex's heyday, interest in CES waned and attendance dropped dramatically.

As PCs became more consumer-focused, Comdex activity ebbed and CES became the major must-attend show for PC vendors. The market for PCs has changed dramatically in the last two years, however, and shows of this type are now less important to vendors.

Additionally, the show's date poses problems. In fact, Microsoft pointed this out when it discussed leaving the show. The event usually occurs the first week of January, which, if you think about it, is a lousy time to introduce a product. For the PC crowd, the optimal time would be mid-year so that it could build on these launches over the early fall and mount major campaigns in time for the holidays. Instead, vendors show off new some new stuff at CES in January and many times hold off on the really hot products to make sure they can actually raise consumer expectations closer to the holidays.

Although the date issue is brought up often to CES management, organizers seem content to continue to schedule the big industry splash in January. As far as I can tell, there is no change to that thinking in any way.

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In short, the real reason this show is still relevant and important, even with the exodus of some of the big vendors, is the networking. In fact, I am told that most of the business done at the show is not on the convention hall exhibit floor but instead back in the private suites where the real high level meetings take place.

So, what will be the major themes for this year's CES?

Windows 8
Steve Ballmer and his partners will tout it on the show floor, in keynotes, and in panel discussions. Windows 8 for tablets will be big and I expect to see a dozen prototypes of these models. However, with Windows 8 not coming out until October 2012, its real industry impact will not be felt until the next holiday season.

UltraBooks
They will be everywhere. Intel and partners will show as many as 50 models at the show as the WinTel crowd has finally realized that Apple skunked them with the MacBook Air. They are now furiously playing catch up.

Hybrids
In last week's column, I wrote that hybrids would be the sleeper product of 2012. These are laptop/tablet combo devices and we should see about a dozen of these at this year's CES. But since they run Windows 8, they too will not impact the market until late in the year.

Android Tablets
We will see at least 30 new Android tablets at CES. They will be everywhere. Only Amazon has had any success with Android on tablets to date and all of the Android tablets at this show will be chasing Amazon. Since I expect Google to do a Chrome tablet later this year, I would not be surprised if we see at least one of these at the show, as well.

Smart TVs
Many partners will show Google's newest version of Google TV, but Sharp, NEC, Samsung, and Visio will also show their own versions of this concept. Nobody has nailed this yet, although Steve Jobs told his biographer that he had finally figured this out. At the moment, nobody knows when Apple will actually show off its new version of TV solutions. Regardless, smart TVs with various approaches will be a big deal at CES this year.

There may be some new smartphones flaunted also but I hear that the big smartphone announcements will be reserved for the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona at the end of February.

Of course, there will also be surprises since many companies keep hush until the show begins. Hopefully, some unexpected new products will capture our attention.

While the products take center stage, it is the networking at this show that still makes CES an important trade show and the place to be for anyone in the industry in early January.

For more from Tim Bajarin, follow him on Twitter @bajarin.

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