Wow. Bombshell! Also note that last time Schiller covered a Keynote for Jobs, Steve Jobs was undergoing cancer surgery. We hope all is well in Cupertino.
Not much more to say more than the press release...more from Ken Mingis at Computerworld.
Apple Announces Its Last Year at Macworld (BOOM!!!!)
CUPERTINO, CaliforniaDecember 16, 2008Apple® today announced that this year is the last year the company will exhibit at Macworld Expo. Philip Schiller, Apples senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, will deliver the opening keynote for this years Macworld Conference & Expo, and it will be Apples 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 Franciscos Moscone Center January 5-9, 2009.
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 Apples 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.
Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.
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