Kyle LeBoeuf

Usually, by this time of the year, Apple and IDG have already announced Steve Jobs as the opening keynote speaker of the Macworld Expo, as he has done for the past several years.

But it seems like times are changing, as Apple recently announced that not only is Steve Jobs not delivering the keynote (Phil Schiller will be delivering the keynote instead), but that this will be the last year that Apple exhibits at Macworld, marking the end of an era.

This is likely to have a significant impact on the attendance and importance of the Macworld Expo, since most of the biggest Apple hardware and software developers would take advantage of the masses that are present to see the “Stevenote”. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Macworld Expo decrease in size and importance, as different companies scale back their presence at trade shows in an attempt to stem the tide in the economic downturn.

Steve is likely to continue presenting keynotes at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) and at exclusive press events.

Wow. This is going to have some big effects on the industry.

kyle [at] kyleleboeuf dot com