With all the usual cloak-and-dagger intrigue that accompanies reporting on the world's most valuable tech company, rumours are spreading that Apple has fielded a 250-strong contingent at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) being held at Las Vegas this week, despite the lack of an official presence.

Reuters first reported the figure, citing ‘a person familiar with Apple's plans'.

Thus far, though, there has only been one confirmed sighting of an Apple employee, paidContent's Tom Krazit nabbing Apple's head of iOS product marketing, Greg Joswiak, outside the Sony booth.

Krazit says Joswiak had his ID badge ‘strategically arranged as to cover his name and company affiliation,' and ‘grinned sheepishly upon being recognised by a reporter'.

Joswiak's explanation was that he was interested in how other companies present their products at such events. Apple has long spurned the showcase format in favour of its own presentations, even ditching Macworld in 2009.