Apple is pulling out of the Macworld Conference & Expo and several other conferences, stirring debate about whether that is a good move for Apple and the hundreds of third-party vendors who participate each year.
The announcement not to participate after the January conference and to pull CEO Steve Jobs as the keynote speaker comes after two very successful years. Macworld 2007 set a record for attendance, and Macworld 2008 topped it.
In January 2007, show organizer IDG said Macworld attracted 45,572 attendees, compared to 38,441 in 2006, an increase of 19 percent. The number of exhibitors hit nearly 400. The increase in exhibitors and attendance could easily be attributed to the then-much-anticipated launch of the iPhone.
By 2008 the number of attendees increased 10 percent and the number of companies participating hit 475. The momentum was strong, with Apple showcasing the MacBook Air, iPod touch applications, iTunes Store and Apple TV movie rentals, and the Time Capsule, an automatic wireless backup for the Mac.
So why end what has proven to be such a success? That’s the question posed by many bloggers and analysts, who say there’s no Macworld without Apple.
Michael Gartenberg, vice president of mobile strategy at Jupitermedia, said once Apple pulled out of Macworld in Boston, the show ended there. Macworld moved from New York to Boston in 2002, and that was when Apple decided to no longer participate in the East Coast event. With Apple gone, attendees dropped substantially to about 8,000 while the West Coast event drew about 36,000.
Gartenberg said Apple has developed a strong following and no longer needs a mega-conference to announce new products. Instead, Apple uses its Web site, Apple.com, and its retail stores to reach both new and existing customers, he said.
IDG said MacWorld will continue beyond 2009. Vice…