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MacWorld: How Badly Does it Need Apple?
By Remy Davison, Insanely Great Mac
January 13th 2003
In the absence of Apple, what will be the incentive for small and large developers to
come to MacWorld?
The success of last week's MacWorld San Francisco has left the issue of Apple and
IDG's dispute over the New York and Biston venues untouched. The question a ZDNet
article raises is - how dependent upon Apple are the Expos?
The summer 2004 MacWorld Expo scheduled for Boston is one Apple won't attend; IDG says
it will persist with Boston regardless. IDG has a three-year contract to stage
MacWorld in Boston.
The question is whether smaller exhibitors will make the trek to Boston in the absence
of a Cupertino presence. The ZDNet story cites the case of El Gato software, [who
develop Toast for Roxio - Ed.] who argue that products such as their EyeTV software
would not have been as successful, had it not been for the pulling power of Apple at
the major expos.
"It's such a great vehicle for launching new products," El Gato's marketing
representative says in the story. However, he notes Apple's presence was a major
factor in pulling crowds. "If they don't go, I could see it killing the whole show,"
Other attend the Expos to check out new products and attend the raft of seminars,
which range from Mac newbie level to veteran pro, and everything else in between.
The big developers and hardware manufacturers also make their presence felt when Apple
shows up. HP's Mac marketing vice-president says in the article that if Apple's there,
HP has to be there - or people might assume HP has abandoned the Mac market. And
people might go buy something other than an HP.
Analysis: There's something in this: remember how Jobs trotted out Microsoft,
Alias|Wavefront, Adobe and many other big names a few shows ago to demonstrate big
developers' commitment to OS X? They know their sales on X depend on showing off their
products before users and the media alike.
And, don't forget, Apple spends a fortune on air tickets ferrying in newspaper and
magazine reporters from as far afield as New Zealand and India. Not cheap.
What about the smaller developer? Boston will be less expensive, but exposure will be
decidedly less without a Jobs keynote. Nevertheless, London's MacExpo a couple of
years ago didn't have an official Apple presence, but went ahead, was successful, and
attracted a record 22,000 attendees in 2002.
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