Apple today announced that the upcoming 2009 MacWorld Expo is the last year the company will exhibit at the event.
Philip Schiller, Apple"s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the opening keynote for this year"s Macworld Conference & Expo, and it will be Apple"s last keynote at the show. The keynote address will be held at Moscone West on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. Macworld will be held at San Francisco"s Moscone Center January 5-9, 2009.
It has been rumoured recently that both an iPhone nano and Mac Mini could be unveiled at MacWorld by what was thought to be the Steve Jobs keynote. Both could still surface but a rumour today, places Apple releasing net books to the masses in January to help raise revenue for next year.
Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple"s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.
The revelation that Steve Jobs won"t be appearing will once again raise questions about the CEO"s health.