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Sony to skip 2012 CTIA

After coming to every CTIA show for the past few years, Sony will not attend the event scheduled to begin May 8 in New Orleans.

Kent German Former senior managing editor / features
Kent was a senior managing editor at CNET News. A veteran of CNET since 2003, he reviewed the first iPhone and worked in both the London and San Francisco offices. When not working, he's planning his next vacation, walking his dog or watching planes land at the airport (yes, really).
Kent German

The annual CTIA Wireless show usually brings us a host of shiny new cell phones. And given the event's U.S. focus, we have the pleasure of knowing that all the handsets introduced eventually will end up stateside.

Yet, when the 2012 show beings May 8 in New Orleans, CNET has learned that Sony won't be in attendance. In an e-mail, spokeswoman Chelsea Alexander didn't offer a reason for the company's absence, but she did confirm that it won't be landing in the Big Easy. So not only does that mean no press conference or new phones, but also it means Sony won't even have a booth on the show floor.

Indeed, the decision marks an unexpected turn in a year of changes for Sony, as it sheds the "Ericsson" name. Though its Xperia Ion and Xperia S impressed us at CES in January, the Xperia P and Xperia U came up short a month later at Mobile World Congress.

That doesn't mean, though, that I wasn't curious to see what Sony had to offer next. Hopefully, it will use its CTIA break to prepare for something bigger and better later in the year.