Apple Made Surprise Appearance at CES 2012?

Blink and you'll miss it.

Reports suggest that more than 250 Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) employees are attending the Consumer Electronics Show this year.

But instead of coming to the event with a booth and a plethora of products to steal the spotlight, Reuters reports (via Business Insider) that the Apple employees are merely registered as attendees of the show.

Yesterday afternoon, Paid Content reported that Greg Joswiak, the head of iOS product marketing, was already at the show. He was seen visiting Sony's (NYSE: SNE) booth.

Why would Apple come to CES with nothing to show? To check out the competition, of course. Or, perhaps more accurately, to check out all of the copycat products being introduced at the show. And maybe, just maybe, to check out the groundbreaking TV Samsung just unveiled.

While it is natural for companies to examine the products of their competitors (how else can Apple improve on their ideas?), this revelation does bring up an interesting topic: why isn't Apple at CES in some official form?

The simple answer is that the company no longer needs to attend a trade event. Apple is bigger than big; when the company holds an exclusive, press-only event, the media rushes to attend while consumers wait in anticipation of what's to come. Instead of being just another press junket, Apple events are renowned moments that gather the world's attention. Every. Single. Time.

With its own event, Apple enjoys the luxury of exclusive hype. It knows that even if it were to announce a product on the same day that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) or Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) made a big announcement, it could still garner the most headlines – and likely embarrass its competitors.

It is for that very reason that I wonder why Apple doesn't rethink its decision to avoid trade shows and begin exhibiting at them once more. When the video game industry attempted to do this, it was a total disaster. Game companies found that it was ultimately more beneficial to hold their biggest events together at the annual Electronic Entertainment Exp.

“Apple doesn't need to do that!” critics would inevitably say. “Apple is so huge, it can do whatever it wants!”

Yes, it can. But there is something to be said for a company that isn't afraid to one-up the competition in an uncertain environment. Apple is, after all, the leading tech innovator. We can all agree on that, right? Even when Apple Siri-ously screws up, there will still be an overwhelming number of diehard fans waiting to defend the company and say that everything it does is perfect. You can't buy fans like that – you have to earn them. Apple earned them by creating some of the world's most innovative gadgets, most notably the iPhone, which people still can't live without even four years after its release.

If Apple is indeed the king, if it has the ability to lead media headlines, if sites that cover Apple can increase their traffic (thus ensuring tons of Apple coverage), and if no company in the world can truly compete, then why wouldn't the Mac maker come back to CES?

By attending CES 2013, it would give Apple the opportunity to laugh in the face of its competitors, overshadow their latest announcements, and humiliate those who dared to copy Apple's product designs. (That last part wouldn't be too difficult; CES is typically filled with Apple clones.)

Apple's attendance would send shockwaves throughout the tech industry. The mere mention of Apple at CES would strike fear in the company's biggest competitors, especially Samsung. Can you imagine what Samsung would have done if Apple had come to CES this year? Nothing public, obviously. But behind the scenes Samsung execs would have been a mess. I can almost envision what their conversations would have been like:

Exec 1: “Don't announce a smart TV. PLEASE don't announce a smart TV!”

Exec 2: “They're gonna show a TV. I just know it.”

Exec 1: “Why are they here? They shouldn't be here. They said they weren't going to come!”

Exec 3: “So much white and silver…so many bold designs…I need a drink.”

These are the kinds of conversations that every tech company would have.

And when Apple's announcement finally came – whether it was the iPad 3, the still-unconfirmed television set, or an entirely new device – the company would easily take center stage. Even if the announcement was a little less exciting than, say, the unveiling of the iPod Video or the MacBook Air redesign, Apple would still walk away with more front-page headlines than any other CES attendee.

With Microsoft packing up and leaving CES (for good, it seems), one has to wonder what will become of the show. Samsung was the frontrunner this year, so it is wholly possible that the Galaxy S II maker will continue using the show as its primary announcement platform. And with less competition each year, why not? They might even be able to convince CES to change its name to the Samsung Electronics Show.

But I am hoping for a different outcome. While it seems foolish to dream of a day when Apple or Microsoft will return, it would be better for CES – and all consumers interested in new technology – if the show reverted back its former self.

Follow me @LouisBedigian