CES: Widening the appeal

The CES extravaganza in Las Vegas has come to a close and despite Microsoft's decision to bid farewell to the event in the near future, the 2012 show has been by all accounts a rip roaring success.

Mind you Microsoft hasn't completely turned its back on CES, continuing to connect with partners and customers via the event. The tech giant's decision to no longer make a keynote address at the event or have a booth in 2013 was seen by many as a sign that CES was losing its appeal.

However, the figures released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) show the 2012 event has been the largest in the event's 45 year history, with a record number of more than 3,100 exhibitors across the largest show floor in CES history – 1.861 million net square feet of exhibit space – drawing a record of more than 153,000 attendees, including more than 34,000 international attendees.

More than 20,000 new products were launched at the 2012 CES, which also featured top executives from Qualcomm, Mercedes, Wal-Mart, Intel, Ford, Verizon, Unilver, Ford, eBay, GE, Google and Facebook.

These are impressive numbers for an event that started back in 1967, when the show had only 100 exhibitors, and was attended by 17,500 people. Here's a look at the history of CES, courtesy of Techbuffalo.com.