Apple pulls out of NAB?

[Ethan Cooper]

I just read over on another forum that Apple has pulled out of NAB 2008... can anyone confirm this?

It refrenced this article.

[Chris Hurd]

Thread title changed from "Is this true??" to "Apple pulls out of NAB?"

Please, please, please avoid ambiguous thread titles on this message board!

Since Avid withdrew from NAB, it comes as no surprise to me that Apple is out as well.

Their thinking is that the million-plus dollars spent on exhibiting at this show could be better spent in other ways, and frankly I agree with 'em. NAB is the most important show of the year for me, but only from a social networking perspective... I don't care much for the exhibits on the show floor anymore. My nights at NAB are more important than my days there.

[Ethan Cooper]

Chris,
I didn't want the title to be a glaring falsehood if it wasn't true. I was actually kinda hoping one of you guys would change the title if it was...

[Chris Hurd]

Well if you're not sure then the title should be Apple pulls out of NAB?

According to http://www.nabshow.com/ it looks like Apple is still listed as an exhibitor (in South Hall Lower, as usual, at booth SL106), but it could be that the site hasn't been updated yet.

[Ethan Cooper]

I'm not gonna freak out till I see a press release from Apple.
I really would have thought that with Avid being a no show that Apple would want to be there. I enjoy NAB and would hate to see it diminished in the coming years.

[Bill Pryor]

No need to freak out. Spend your time at NAB looking at cameras, lights, dollies, jibs, mics, booth babes and all that other good stuff instead of standing in huge long lines to see what you already know about from Apple and Avid.

[Ethan Cooper]

Ah crap, I can't resist. I love a good conspiracy theory so here goes...

What's with the timing of this announcement (err, not really an announcement yet without a press release, but you get the picture) why now? Isn't it kinda late in the day to be pulling out of NAB? I know it's two months away, but they had to have been planning everything, and reserving rooms, tickets, materials, speakers, having people working up the schedule and designs for the booth. So why pull the plug now?

I'm left wondering if it's something to do with NAB management or something like that. Was NAB just asking too much money or was there some problem with the way they are handling clients? I'm just at a loss as to why now.

On the high cost of exhibiting, I saw someone throw out a number of $6 million for what it cost Apple to be there all said and done, but with this being the year Avid pulled out, wouldn't they have done well to be there to kick a little sand in the eye of the competition?

Maybe they just had nothing to announce (no blu-ray?) so they pulled out, but it just seems odd to me. Anyone else up for some wild speculation?

[Greg Boston]

Ethan, we only do rumor and speculation in the Area 51 forum.

As to the announcement... I can offer up this link.

http://www.tvtechnology.com/pages/s.0157/t.11096.html

I still don't see an official press release on Apple's website however.

-gb-

[Bill Pryor]

He does bring up an interesting point. Avid announced its decision last year. With NAB in April, all the exhibitors would have to have already committed money and planning. To back out this late would, no doubt, result in a substantial fee, not to mention all the money spent on getting ready. They don't just throw this stuff together at the last minute.

[Jon Fairhurst]

True that.

I worked for Grass Valley Group for ten years as an engineer. By the end of the year, we started worrying about NAB. Come January 2nd, it consumed us.

The sales and marketing guys were busy way before January with booth layouts, contracting, logistics and endless odds and ends.

To pull out now would be strange. The only way that would make sense is if the show had been centered around a suite of new products that just got canceled or delayed.

Not that I'm trying to start a new rumor!!! This is only conjecture, people!

[Richard Alvarez]

Well the conjecture on this board alone regarding Avid's pullout included all sorts of doom and gloom... so lets move the thread to Area 51 and fire away!

[Ethan Cooper]

Since we all went wild speculating about Avid not going to NAB, I thought it was fair to do the same about Apple's supposed pull out.
Why now only a couple months out from a huge event that's undoubtedly been planned for some time at considerable expense?
No new products?
Bad blood with NAB management?

Who wants to postulate?

[Ethan Cooper]

I was doing my nightly geek read on Macrumors.com and came across this little tidbit:

(someone) tentatively claims that Mira Mobile is hiring for an unannounced Apple event in the last week of February.
Of interest, it does appear that Apple contracts out to MiraMobile for their AV needs. (MiraMoblie's) AV truck was used at the 2007 Macworld San Francisco Keynote speech...
...Appleinsider has also heard whispers about an "unusual number of visual resources" being prepped for late February.

Could not being at NAB and this announcement be connected or have I spent way too much time on the rumor sites again?

Wait a second.. when was this thread moved?? Sneaky moderators.

[Ethan Cooper]

Anyone else read the rumor that Apple may have sold it's Pro Apps division?
Whaaa?

"Word on the street is that Apple has been shopping ProApps around since late last summer, and a deal was close last fall. Now such rumors have reached a fevered pitch, with ProApps apparently sold with all but the final announcement to be made. Potential buyers include Thompson, which has been on an acquisition spree of late, and would love to add an industrial strength NLE to its newsroom offerings.
No one will speak on the record for attribution. Until then anything can happen, but sources say morale in the ProApps group is low. Key members of the team have been moved to consumer-focused products like iMovie. Others have begun preparing for life after Apple.
If this is the case, Apple has little reason to throw a party for ProApps, and lopping a few million from the expense column makes the unit a lot more attractive to a buyer. "

no clue if it's true... but why? Apple has a good thing going with FCP right? right? I'm confused.

[Theodore McNeil]

Originally Posted by Ethan Cooper

Anyone else read the rumor that Apple may have sold it's Pro Apps division?
Whaaa?

no clue if it's true... but why? Apple has a good thing going with FCP right? right? I'm confused.

This article was forwarded to me about six times. I doubt it. This feels like that ZFS rumor.

If there is any truth to it, I think maybe it's just Apple keeping it's options open. With a sale like this, I think (and hope) they would be worried about alienating some of their core customers and key mac evangelists.

Somebody probably just crunched the numbers and found it's cheaper plus more lucrative to fly a couple of sales Reps out to a prospective customer than it is to pay for that monster booth.