Observers expected few innovations as this year's annual Comdex trade show, which began yesterday with talks by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and other high-tech leaders.
Technology companies were expected to showcase their latest wares a smaller, tougher audience than during past Comdex trade shows with a number of potential attendees staying home amid the prolonged slump in the economy and in the information technology industry, analysts said.
The show is not expected to draw more than the 125,000 who attended last year in the wake of deadly Sept. 11 terror attacks on the US. Previous shows have drawn as many as 200,000 participants.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"Comdex has become the sort of conference that you don't get a lot out of by going, but you miss a lot by not going," said technology analyst Dan Scovel at Needham Co.
"We're past the era of the [personal computer]" and the economic backdrop is difficult, he said.
Gates opened the conference with a 7pm (US mountain time) speech outlining the latest from his company, followed by Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina and Sun Microsystems chief Scott McNealy and AMD president Hector de J Ruiz today.
Observers and analysts expect the conference will largely focus on wireless technology and will showcase products that take advantage of wireless networking such as WiFi.
"We don't expect many surprises from this year's event," Pacific Crest Securities analyst Aalok Shah said.
The rise of more specific industry trade shows, like the yearly Consumer Electronics Show held in January, have won ground over the all-encompassing, week-long Comdex show which is now entering its 23rd year, technology analysts said.
Comdex has not completely lost its appeal, though, as it continues to draw technology companies from across the board.
This time around, however, the show will likely be a more understated affair when compared to shows before the technology bubble burst that were characterized by deal-making, glitzy mingling and flashy parties.
While other trade shows "capture more specific niches of excitement these days and Comdex has had its day in the sun, if you can pick only one show to go each year, you would probably have to pick Comdex," Scovel said.
Comdex brand president Monica Vila acknowledged that the industry continues to face a difficult period, but was hopeful that companies will continue to see Comdex as a chance to pave the way for potential sales.
"These have proven to be difficult and challenging times for the [tech] industry," Vila said.
However, "leading companies know that the fourth quarter is the critical time to position themselves for success and start to fill their sales pipeline for 2003," she said.
Indeed, while tech industry researcher Gartner and brokerage SoundView Technology recently predicted that 2003 US technology budgets will remain flat, they also said pent-up demand resulting from trimmed budgets will eventually refuel growth in late next year or 2004.
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