The 2010 Macworld Expo: It's caused a lot of hand-wringing, ever since Apple announced that it was pulling out of every Macworld Expo after this past January's, when Phil Schiller gave the final Apple keynote. IDG World Expo, the company that puts on the shindig, did a town hall event at this year's show to start a dialogue about what the Expo would look like when Apple quits the scene.
Today IDG has announced that the 2010 Macworld Expo will be held February 9 through 13 at Moscone Center in San Francisco. Traditionally, this Expo is held in early January, but this change was made from feedback from Expo exhibitors and attendees, who could now theoretically squeeze in both Macworld and the ever-growing Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, which will happen January 7 through 10, 2010.
Apple is rumored to be appearing at CES 2010, which would contradict its reasoning for abandoning the Macworld Expo, which was that the company didn't need trade shows to reach consumers thanks to the popularity of its Apple Stores. The Consumer Electronics Association, which runs CES, told CNET that it planned to have a Mac-centric area at CES 2010, and of course it would be great to see our favorite computer company there, but so far Apple hasn't confirmed anything.
The new Macworld 2010 dates also include a Saturday: "This shift will provide all attendees, including full-time professionals, with more flexible times and convenient weekend access to the show floor," reads IDG's press release. Exhibit hall passes, offered free of charge, are available here.
What do you think: Is this a smart move? Are you more likely to attend Macworld Expo in February, after the holidays are over and CES is in the bag? Are you more likely to check out Macworld's exhibit halls when they'll be open on a Saturday? Will Apple (kind of) reverse itself and appear at CES? Express yourself in the comments, and then stay tuned to MacLife.com as more develops...
MacAddict4Life
March 31, 2009 at 4:53pm
At first I was upset... but when I think about it, a product announcement was the only good thing about having Apple at the show. I spent hardly any time at their booth, which wasn't that interesting anyway. I go to see the other companies, they were just a face in the crowd at the show (granted a face with a big booth). It is amusing that Microsoft Mac will, if they maintain their past presence, have the biggest presence at the show in terms of floor space.
I just hope MWSF doesn't die... because if it doesn't impact other exhibitors, then I don't think I'll really feel the loss of Apple's presence.
dbsantana
March 31, 2009 at 9:13am
Actually, early February works better for me. I often have to juggle other conflicts in early January, that in 2009 forced me to miss the expo.
Quayzar
March 30, 2009 at 3:47pm
I always wanted Apple at CES as I thought Microsoft had too much of a stranglehold on the whole thing but I am very disappointed that Apple had to abandon MacWorld in order to attend CES but it does make sense. At MacWorld people already buy Macs and no matter if Apple is there or not people there will continue to but the people at CES often haven't bought a Mac and Apple sees that as an opportunity. The people at CES until now (and maybe after now too) are an untapped demographic that Apple stands to gain significant market share from so in Apple's collective reasoning the matter is pretty much made up for them. That being said I have no idea why Apple couldn't do both but perhaps their reasoning was missing a final point "Apple feels it no longer needs to debut its products at trade shows..." devoted solely to Apple.
cjpugh
March 31, 2009 at 8:04am
Thanks for your well thought out commits Quayzar . I haven't thought of it this way. I feel Apple is loaded for bear right now and is set to take a LARGE portion of the market share. I'm not just talking about iPhone and Ipod, I'm talking about the home computing people, like me! I just made the switch from PC to Mac and I kick myself for not doing it years ago!
