Earlier this week, it was reported that Adobe canned its booth for Macworld Expo 2009; typically, that booth had been a large one. Now, according to AppleInsider, several other companies are scaling back planned booths or passing on the trade show completely.
In addition to Adobe, accessory maker Belkin, storage vendor Seagate, and audio stalwarts Creative Labs are bowing out altogether. Sources also indicate that Google and two other unnamed companies are scaling back their booths significantly. IDG is said to be in frantic negotiations to keep exhibitors on the show floor.
I'm willing to bet IDG is willing to make a deal on this prime booth space.
To make matter worse, registration is down 20 percent versus last year, which is likely the reason that IDG extended the Early Bird registration discount until December 8.
Adobe cited slow sales of its Creative Suite 4 as the main reason for canceling its booth, and it seems as though the sluggish economy might be at least part of the issue for other exhibitors. However, Steve Jobs has yet to be named as the Keynote speaker, and his absence could significantly reduce the attention that the conference normally receives.
The news is not all bad, though. Adobe is still participating in the educational sessions, which include eight different tracks this year. And some exhibitors, like EyeTV maker Elgato, are getting better booth positions than they've typically gotten in past years. In addition, there are high expectations that Apple could announce new desktop models, a revised 17" MacBook Pro, or even offer a preview of Snow Leopard. You can be sure that Ars will be there to bring you the news as it happens.
UPDATE: We've been in contact with IDG and they let us know that not all of the information in AppleInsider's report is accurate. We are still getting details, but rest assured we will post more when we have the full story.
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