Steve Jobs won’t speak at Apple’s last Macworld

by Christopher Poon on December 17th, 2008 at 4:41 PM

Well, all good things must come to an end.

After years of being a part of the Macworld Conference & Expo, the annual trade show devoted to all things Mac, Apple has decided that 2009 will be its last year at the event.

Even more surprising is the news that CEO Steve Jobs will not be delivering the keynote speech as has been the tradition for the past 10 years, but that Apple senior vice president Philip Schiller will speak instead.

In the past, Apple has used its keynote speeches to reveal some of its biggest products, including iTunes, the iPhone, and the MacBook Air.

Macworld will be held January 5 to 9, 2009, in San Francisco.

Apple announced the news in the following press release:

Apple Announces Its Last Year at Macworld
CUPERTINO, California—December 16, 2008—Apple ® today announced that this year is the last year the company will exhibit at Macworld Expo. 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.
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.
Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.