In what appears to be speculation at this point, Gizmodo is reporting that “Apple may go large” and start to appear at the Consumer Electronics Event in Las Vegas next year. The Cupertino firm traditionally is the big player at Macworld, which occurs around the same time as CES in January, but has announced this year that it will no longer be a Macworld participant to roll out and announce new offerings. Insiders have pegged Apple’s decision to roll out smaller press events on their own terms.

This rumor from Gizmodo seems contradictory to Apple’s intentions at the moment. Apple, being famous on wanting tight control of everything from product design to marketing, has shifted its strategy from trade shows to press events, store events, and reaching consumers in other ways.

If Apple does indeed make its way to Las Vegas, it will be interesting to get two “SteveNotes”–keynotes from Redmond’s head Steve Ballmer and from Cupertino leader Steve Jobs.

Could the next iPhone be announced at CES? With the announcement of the first generation iPhone, CES was definitely overshadowed by Macworld.