Hot on the heals of Adobe choosing not to have a booth at Macworld 2009, Apple Insider is reporting that several other big names are either scaling down, or pulling out all together.
Companies like Belkin, Seagate, and Creative Labs have pulled out completely, while companies like Google and Marware are scaling back from previous years. With registration down by 20% over last year, it’s not surprising to see that the show is going to be scaled back this year.
This in no way means that the show is in danger of being cancelled, or falling apart, but it is a clear sign that the economy is having an effect on this year’s event. With current travel expenses being what they are, and revenues down everywhere, we won’t be attending the show to cover it live this year either, and I’m sure many people that intended to go a few months ago, might find that they’re going to have to re-think that in January.
Apple Insider speculates that this may not be economic only, but doesn’t provide a clear answer to what else they think the issue might be. For me, I believe it is related to economic belt-tightening, and I won’t be surprised if we see more of it before the show next month.
7 thoughts on “More names pull out of Macworld 2009”
I always find it funny when you refer to applegazette as “we”.
@krye
Well, there is more than just me behind the scenes. I’m the only one that writes (most of the time) but I’m not the only person involved.
A couple of grammatical nitpicks.
You meant “scaled *back* this year.” and “the economy is having an *effect*”
Worse. Unless Apple comes up with a “reason” to attend, most folks will “watch it on the Internet”. Oh, and the prices for a booth are more than I can afford. They need to drop the prices for vendors, manufacturers and the rest of us.
Or just make it a “Virtual Expo” with door prizes, etc. Those work , assuming “they” get enough bandwidth to show products and have a Mac-friendly website to do the show.
When we can do networking via MyAppleSpace, LinkedIn, YouTube, do Internet conference calls with video etc., it makes precious little sense to go to San Francisco unless you really, really need to go eat the sourdough bread or enjoy seafood at Fisherman’s Wharf. I’d go just for the Ghirardelli chocolate. ;^)
But Apple has not shown me any compelling reason to attend the Expo. Where’s the buzz? Where’s the excitement? No, “everybody” is already overspent, overdrawn and credit-card bouncy. MacWorld could shut down the Expo for lack of interest and few would actually notice (except in the Apple Media, where I work).
Expos are so “last year”, for high tech.
Tricky. This whole time I thought it was just you.
@kyre
Well, I do all the writing, but I didn’t design the site (although I did design the layout) , and I don’t own it. 🙂 So there are others involved
I am a little surprised with Belkin pulling out, seeing that they have been releasing a lot of apple-only products (espeically in the iPod/iPhone category) and usually get solid reviews from MacWorld. Maybe the fact they are pulling out is a sign of something else behind the scenes going on…
I am not about to put my tin foil hat on and speculate about Adobe — everyone know the Kumbaya relationship they have had with Apple…