CES: CEA Confirms Apple Section of CES 2010, Tacitly Acknowledges Apple Presence

The CEA (which runs CES) has announced that CES 2010 will have an “Apple-centric” area at the show. However, neither CEA nor Apple will comment as to if Apple, Inc. will appear at the show.

Apple typically waits until very late to announce what presence, if any, they will have at a particular trade show. For example, Apple has historically waited until about 30 days before Macworld to announce who will be delivering the keynote address and conference sessions.

It is readily aparrent however that it would be unlikely for the CEA to attempt to compete with Macworld Expo unless Apple wished to attend CES. Without an Apple presence, Macworld would maintain dominance around Apple third-party companies. However, the most compelling evidence that Apple will be at CES comes from the CEA’s announcement. Not even Microsoft has a section of CES… CES sections are typically divided based on the product technology (in-car, home theater, etc).

Having a section of the show dedicated to Apple is a major shift for CES, which could only be logically justified by the lure of Apple finally attending the show.