News: Apple Bows Out of Macworld After 2009

In a bit of shocking news, Apple announced yesterday that this year’s Macworld Expo would be the last for both an exhibit and a keynote address. Also announced was that Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing gets the honors of delivering the last keynote address.

This will be the 25th Macworld Expo and many expect that future incarnations will be much smaller or nonexistent. Additionally, Apple Expo Paris was cancelled today. Apple cites scaled back presences at NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo, and Apple Expo in Paris. Some of these have already ceased to exist once the largest exhibiter left.

The press release also adds promise that Apple will use other means to introduce new products, as they have been lately:

“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.”

This just means that Apple won’t be expected to come out with new products in January, instead, getting a chance to show off the goods whenever they please. Some are speculating the health of Steve Jobs, but I think Apple would still have some involvement with the trade shows. Of course, many could just do what’s fashionable these days…blame the economy.