• by Wayne Friedman , January 12, 2009

The International Consumer Electronics Show hasn't been immune from a weakening economy--attendance for the conference held last week was down 22% versus a year ago.

Attendees for the 2009 annual event in Las Vegas numbered 110,000, versus the 141,150 people recorded as attending last year. This number was lower than the 143,695 who attended in 2007.

CES had expected numbers to be off versus a year ago. But it was estimating that numbers would be closer to 130,000. Many conferences have seen big cutbacks in companies' business travel plans.

The four-day conference featured 2,700 exhibitors from 140 countries--including 300 that were new to the show, showcasing more than 20,000 new products.

No matter how the economy performs this year, analysts say that CES numbers might climb next year with rumors Apple Computer executives may attend CES. Apple runs its own MacWorld event around the same time.