Apple CEO Will Skip Macworld Trade Show

Apple Inc. said it will no longer participate in the high-profile Macworld trade show after January, adding that Chief Executive Steve Jobs won't be on hand for its final appearance.

ENLARGE

Associated Press

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Mr. Jobs's keynote at the annual event in San Francisco has been one of the most anticipated events of the year. In recent years, he has used the forum to unveil major products like the MacBook Air laptop and the iPhone.

Apple, of Cupertino, Calif., said its decision to no longer exhibit or hold keynotes at the Macworld reflects a strategy of pulling away from such events in favor of avenues it controls.

Apple said the keynote presentation at this year's show on Jan. 6 will be given by Phillip Schiller, its marketing chief.

Apple's stock fell as much as 5.5% in after-hours trading after the announcement as investors worried that the move was linked to Mr. Jobs's health. Mr. Jobs, who has been the keynote speaker at Macworld since 1997, is a survivor of pancreatic cancer.

Apple didn't comment on whether the decision was related to Mr. Jobs's health, but Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, said he believes that it's part of Apple's strategy to broaden its leadership beyond Mr. Jobs.

"One thing that is clear is that there's a shift in power going on at Apple," said Mr. Munster.

But it could also raise renewed issues about Apple's obligation to disclose what investors regard as material information. "It begs the question of whether they're being fully transparent to investors," said Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein and Co.

Apple has also been scaling back from industry conferences, preferring to hold its own events instead. This year, Apple held two press events in the fall to announce its new iPod and MacBook products. "We will continue doing those as regularly as we have in the past," Steve Dowling, an Apple spokesman, said.

Write to Yukari Iwatani Kane at yukari.iwatani@wsj.com