Macworld Expo, the conference where Steve Jobs unveiled products like the original iPhone and MacBook Air, is no more. After closing Macworld magazine and laying off much of its staff, parent company IDG has announced that 2015’s Macworld/iWorld Expo has been cancelled.
The MacIT conference for enterprise professionals will still take place next year, but Macworld itself has been put on “hiatus.”
“We are announcing today that Macworld/iWorld is going on hiatus, and will not be taking place as planned in 2015,” said IDG World Expo in a statement. “Our MacIT event, the world’s premiere event for deploying Apple in the enterprise, will continue next year with details to be announced in the coming weeks.”
Apple hasn’t officially attended Macworld Expo since 2009, but the conference has lived on and morphed over the years (albeit as a much smaller affair) into a show for Apple enthusiasts, developers, and accessory makers.
Here’s the rest of IDG’s statement:
“Since 1985, Macworld events have brought together a community to celebrate the incredible innovations that Apple has brought into the world, shining a spotlight on the developers who add value to the user’s experience in infinite ways. As Apple products and the related ecosystem have changed, so has the marketplace, and we are proud to have played a part in that evolution. Literally thousands of companies and hundreds of products have come to market at Macworld, and countless professional relationships have been forged. We’d like to take this opportunity to thank the Apple community for allowing us to host these events and be a part of the incredible story that is the Apple market.
We are committed via our MacIT event to bringing together the product developers innovating with enterprise iOS and OS X based solutions, and the growing legion of professionals empowering their organizations through these tools. We are exploring exciting new partnerships, venues, and delivery opportunities through which MacIT can continue to serve this market, and we look forward to announcing our plans for this event within the next few months.”
Source: Macworld
Alex Heath is a journalist who works for Tech Insider. He’s the former co-host of The CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like “ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation.” He lives in Lexington, Kentucky. If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Follow him on Twitter.
9 responses to “The Macworld Expo conference is no more”
A leading indicator that the mobile revolution is over.
Why?
Apple’s phenomenal growth in mobile fueled the expo and mag. And lots more mobile tech reporting. The tech media bulge will shrink in proportion to flattening growth. Everybody will soon own a phone. And the watch won’t light a new booster; it’s plenty mobile. But niche nonetheless.
Did you notice that Apple has not attended the expo since 2009, soon after their phenomenal growth began?
You are probably right that the growth will slow down, it always does, but the closure of the expo is no indicator of that. Rather it indicates that Apple are too big for such an event nowadays and their wwdc etc are sufficient.
Did you read what I wrote, that Apple’s growth fueled the expo? And it did. Apple’s presence or no.
No it didn’t. Have you ever checked the historical data before ?
Number of attendance of Macworld Expo had reached its peak at 46,000 visitors and 400 vendors, after Jobs introduced iPhone, and soon decline after Apple pulled from the expo. The number of attendance of Macworld Expo 2010 is less than 28,000 visitors and 250 vendors.
“Take a quick look at the history. Apple pulled out of Macworld Expo Boston/New York — it failed; Apple pulled out of Macworld Expo Tokyo — it failed; Apple pulled out of Apple Expo Paris — it failed.” writes The Loop’s Jim Dalrymple.
More likely a leading indicator that PCs = Macs in terms of features, pricing and the ‘guts’ inside ’em. When the platforms are only minimally distinguishable on the hardware level, there’s not much to sell “different.” And with Apple being the richest PC/phone builder on the planet, they don’t need any help from 3rd parties to keep the coffers full. Our loss.
The last few should have been titled “iPhone Case Expo”
Glad I got to go to the last one!