Despite the fact that the Consumer Electronics Association had predicted that 130,000 people would show for this year’s event, only 110,000 visitors were drawn at the event. Last year, the show drew 141,150 people. Audited 2009 numbers will be released in about 90 days.

Moreover the show itself opened with sessions detailing just how bad things were going to get in 2009. "It's not an easy situation," said Kevin Lee, vice president of technical marketing for electronics firm Samsung. "It's very tough for everyone."

However it appears that some companies are not doing as bad as it may seem. Blu-Ray promises a lot after this year’s show as disc sales have tripled in the past year and Blu-Ray sold 28.6 million discs in the fourth quarter of 2008, and there are 10.7 million Blu-ray players currently in the United States, despite the fact that tehey are not getting any cheaper.

Moreover the company teamed up with manufacturers such as Haier and Sharp in order to ship HDTVs with built-in Blu-ray players. Samsung showed off a soundbar surround-sound speaker that incorporated a Blu-ray player. And Panasonic demonstrated a portable Blu-ray player and what may be the weirdest fusion of old and new technology I've seen in a while: a combination Blu-ray player and VCR.

But all in all, 2009 is definitely the year of environmentally friendly electronics, wireless gadgets that can be used in more places, expanded access to the Internet and newer ways for people to interact with their devices, including voice commands and gestures.