Apple Bailing on MacWorld

Sam Gustin writes: Apple has announced that this will be its last year exhibiting at MacWorld Expo, the annual San Francisco trade show devoted to all things Apple.

Mac acolytes from around the world make the yearly pilgrimage to the show to check out the latest Apple products and hear company chieftain Steve Jobs speak.

In a statement, Apple said MacWorld, which was once a key part of its product marketing strategy, is simply no longer as important for the company as it once was.

"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 company said. "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," the company added.

Apple said Philip Schiller, the company's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, will deliver the opening keynote.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether Jobs will make an appearance this year. He will not be delivering the keynote.

Meanwhile, speculation is mounting that the company will announce a line of lower-cost laptops, or netbooks, at this year's trade show.