One of the biggest announcements prior to CES this year was that Steve Jobs would not deliver his opening keynote at Macworld '09 and Apple was pulling away from the Macworld Conference and Expo completely. Rumors emerged this week that the company could be stepping back from Macworld to take a step toward the Consumer Electronics Show that takes place in Las Vegas around the same time.

Cnet reports that Jason Oxman, Senior Vice President of Industry Affairs at the Consumer Electronics Association, has confirmed that the CEA has "dedicated a special area at the 2010 CES to Apple-related CE manufacturers," an announcement that could see more than just Apple leave Macworld next year. However, this could also simply mean that the new area has Apple-related products and companies, and not Apple itself.

With Apple’s popularity growing, it seems natural that the company would want to keep up appearances at shows like CES where all the top names in the consumer electronics industry gather together with industry affiliates. That said, it’s surprising that the company would do so at the expense of an event like Macworld. The show has played a huge part in Apple history and it seems like bad form to ditch it just to play with the big boys.

Apple’s presence aside, an Apple-area at CES is something that the show is crying out for. CES is the consumer electronics event of the year and while Apple’s absense doesn’t go unnoticed, the increase in Apple related booths is just as noticable. In Las Vegas this year, the biggest collection of Apple and Apple related electronics I saw was in the press room, but there was still dozens of companies showing off iPod and iPhone accessories on the show floor. An Apple zone just makes sense.

Apple has refused to comment on whether or not it will be a part of the Apple area and hasn’t said whether the company's “pulling back from tradeshows” stance means stepping away from trade shows completely. If the company decides that holding its own events is the best way to go then so be it, but many think Apple would be seven kinds of stupid to sit out on an opportunity like CES.