Apparently so. With exactly three weeks to go before the most important showcase event of the year for the world’s most important consumer technology company, Jobs has pulled out (full report here.)
Apple’s explanation is that it no longer needs tradeshows like this (Macworld has been run by IDG) and that special one-off launch events have become a better way to get attention for its new products. Certainly, analyst Michael Gartenberg agrees.
It isn’t an exaggeration, though, to call Jobs’ Macworld appearances the single biggest event in the annual technology calendar. With Apple once again refusing to address the issue of its CEO’s health, the speculation that follows this cancellation will be intense.
