IDG cancels Macworld Boston

September 20, 2005

Show organizer IDG has canceled Macworld Expo Boston. The East Coast Macworld Expo was held in Boston from 1985 to 1997. In 1998 it was moved to New York.

In October 2002, IDG announced their intention to move the show back to Boston, a move many criticized. Apple quickly announced it would no longer participate in the East Coast show. East Coast Macworld expos have always been much smaller than Macworld San Francisco. New York's shows would have tens of thousands attendees. The Boston shows only had about 8,000 attendees. The San Francisco show, however, had 36,000 attendees. Without Apple's support, and with the low attendance numbers, many had predicted the cancellation.

Macworld Expos are held twice a year. They are an opportunity for companies to announce new products to the Mac community. Macworld was once one of the largest technology trade shows in the country. Apple regularly announces new products at the Macworld San Francisco expos. "Historically, we have had a West Coast and an East Coast show, after the last show, though, we did a lot of market research and it was obvious that the market wanted one show", said IDG spokesperson Mike Sponseller.

The 2006 show had been scheduled for July 10 through 13.