What To Make Of Apple's Exit From Macworld

I think you've made a lot of great points.

This can also alleviate the "Don't buy mac products in December" stigma.

My one problem with it is that it was announced so soon to Macworld. People have purchased airline flights, hotel rooms, and the more expensive Macworld packages with the intent on seeing a Keynote from Steve Jobs. I sure feel let down.

Now steve jobs présence at the conference call makes sense. To show everything is ok.
Leaving has probably been a long time decision, steve jobs will only appear on home shows that Apple will organise whenever they want!

Why would they send Jobs? Exposure? The only benefit would be for the organiser. Perhaps Apple is planning a show later on? So they would jobs apparence for this one and the hype would be better then the macworld as it would be the first Apple évent after macworld "without" jobs. Pretty big exposure if you re planning a great product.

I think Apple is master in marketing... So they probably have a plan prepared a long time ago

I think this is a good move on Apples part. They will no longer be tied to the externally imposed timeline in considering when to bring out new products. They can create the buzz whenever they want, and they won't have to pander to analysts expectations for the annual event. Now they can control their own marketing, instead of having this idiotic situation that we have now, where analysts prime the market for product releases with their own ideas of what Apple should be releasing. Now the company can bring out products AT THE RIGHT TIME. IT MAY NOT BE THE RIGHT TIME DURING A RECESSION, RIGHT AFTER THE HOLIDAYS. THIS EVENT TIES THE HANDS OF A COMPANY THAT PRIDES ITSELF ON THE RELEASE OF PRODUCTS AT THE RIGHT TIME. APPLE'S MOVE WILL ALLOW THEM TO SET THEIR OWN AGENDA.

"If Apple can’t see the ROI in Macworld, what company can justify the tradeshow bill?"

Um, I hate to be the one to point out the obvious, but if there's one company that doesn't need to bother with a tradeshow, it's Apple. They get free publicity every time the least bit of news comes out of Cupertino -- this pointless article is a good example.

Every other company on the planet would love to be in Apple's position, most especially Microsoft. But they're not, so they're stuck doing shows.

Good points Peter, all the stress, hype and under the magnifying glass hype and scrutiny, not to mention the security breaches and leaks that these scheduled events dictate are enough to piss anybody off. As Apple has grown and become successful, it has attracted a lot of public and unqualified analysis and press, that borders on malice and manipulation.

WHo needs it, less stress and public hysteria can only help keep focus and innovation on track - undisturbed and perturbed. Action speaks louder than words. Apple's products are the bottom line. No one comes close to them.

Apple's quality standards? What quality standards? I love Apple, but in recent years they have lost their touch. When you offer products with so many deliberately restricted features, and at such a high price, to still have as many failures in "it just works" is completely unacceptable.

I think exiting MacWorld is a negative for the organizers and MacWorld Magazine, but not for Apple. It is taking control of its schedule and publicity that had been in the hands of others.

Good point ,Peter.
I also think, that this was a good move, but at a wrong time.
We all know how over-hyped the weeks before the Macworld were.
And after the Keynote, Apple-Fans and Analysts were both disappointed,except after the introduction of the iPhone.

Re. Kevin "COMPANY THAT PRIDES ITSELF ON THE RELEASE OF PRODUCTS AT THE RIGHT TIME"...couldn't agree more. In addition Apples scope of business has move far outside of the classical Mac speres and now is a good time to dust off the old past to make room for things to come.
However I do think that Apple will got full (innovation) power through the recession with a dedicated product strategy. Think about the potential offered by their chip acquisition. An aggressively priced (PA Semi system on chip) Apple "iNetBook" could create a profitable revenue miracle. It would fit well into the product portfolio gap between iTouch and the smallest Macs and would be a perfect "recession solution" that supports also Apples Grand Plan into the DIGITAL HOME.
Rolf Bork, BOD mediaf.com & sensitivetech.com

Like others, Peter, I have to respectfully disagree. It's not the Macworld keynote per se that grabs headlines around the world; rather, it's the new products and directions that Apple introduces in those keynotes. And that's going to continue whether the announcements come at Macworld, at Apple-only events, or at any other venue.

Losing Macworld, with all its associated costs and troublesome expectations, as the venue for announcements won't hurt Apple. Losing Steve Jobs as the announcer _will_ be a blow on the marketing front, I'm afraid - but that's going to happen eventually, whether next year or whether (we hope) many decades later.

Either way, an Apple announcement read by a randomly-chosen janitor will still generate more "wow" than, say, a Dell announcement delivered by Queen Elizabeth, Brangelina, and a cloned Gandhi. Don't fear for Apple!

Having the pressure to make an announcement worthy of a SJ keynote/global mediafest every January is not a good thing. And Apple enjoys the ability to make headlines whenever it wants... MUCH better to let technical progress dictate the schedule.

In fact, if there's one thing Apple needs to improve, it's the product quality of new releases. Apple doesn't have trouble getting customers to wait, or getting attention when it is ready.

At first I was worried about SJ's health. But then it occurred that a SJ keynote is not JUST a two hour time commitment. It's a production. Jobs is good at it because he doesn't just show up and go. And if there isn't big news, the buzz is still negative.

Now what took Apple so long to figure this all out is another question. It is, of course, possible that they mean what they say, which could also read: As long as we were committed to Macworld we needed Jobs to be there even in a slow news year.

Apple has intentionally deprecated each Mac-only event since Steve's return. MacWorld Tokyo, Paris Expo, MacWorld Boston and MocaWorld NY.

Apple wishes to control the entire product experience - including launch timing and media coverage.

This is not at all inconsistent with Steve's Apple.

I think that Steve is fed up with the market manipulators using him
and his health to the detriment of Apple and it's shareholders.

The former positives of Steve's great presentations, are now out-
weighed by the negatives of over-hyped, exagerated expectations, and
an exagerated perception of Apple's dependence on Steve. The news of
the presentations is now completely obscurred by the "news" that the
presentation doesn't measure up to the manufactured rumours, or that
Steve is too thin so Apple is doomed.

The only cure is for Steve to step away from all public performance,
and let the rumour mongers have their last fling now, and to let the
"Cult of Steve" die.