Comdex not what it used to be
By Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 1/1/2004 12:00:00 AM
The fall Comdex event in Las Vegas has long been considered the granddaddy of all high-tech trade shows. But this past November, a long-time Vegas cab driver cracked that, "They held a trade show and nobody came."
That's not entirely true. Regulars such as Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy were there—delivering their customary dueling keynote speeches. But the reported 50,000 attendees are a far cry from the 200,000 that typically showed during Comdex's heydays in the 1990s.
Calling 2003 the first year of "the new Comdex," officials with the company that sponsors the show—Media Live International—said attendance figures reflected a change in the show's emphasis from an extravaganza for the latest consumer gadgets to a more serious event featuring technology for solving business problems.
If recent positive economic trends continue through this year, Comdex attendance could increase in November 2004. Still, it's probably safe to assume that like many things associated with the high-tech industry, Comdex will never again be what it once was.
