Microsoft has announced in a blog post that the company's keynote and booth at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show will be their last. The company promises that although it feels that its "product news milestones generally don’t align with the show’s January timing," it will continue to maintain a small presence at CES in order to meet with "partners and customers across the PC, phone and entertainment industries."

"As we look at all of the new ways we tell our consumer 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 – it feels like the right time to make this transition," wrote VP of Corporate Communications, Frank X. Shaw.

We've already heard through Engadget that Microsoft will be focusing on the Windows Phone and what rumors hint is the next Xbox console in their keynote on the night of January 9th. This speculation stems widely from the fact that at CES 2001 then-CEO Bill Gates unveiled the final model of the Xbox, and that the company may be following this model, gracefully bowing out of CES with a bang.