"They're not cooked yet. So he's going to be stuck trying to present a bunch of stuff that will be months away from being ready," said technology industry analyst Rob Enderle.

Apple doesn't participate in trade shows at all after pulling out of the Macworld Conference & Expo after 2009.

The Consumer Electronics Association, which organizes CES, said it has tremendous demand for invitations to hold keynote speeches, and it has already received feelers from companies that want to rent for the 2013 show the space where Microsoft usually has its booth.