Avid Tech., Apple Fall Off NAB's Tree

In what could be a harbinger of things to come in turbulent economic times, both Apple and Avid Technology have decided not to exhibit at NAB April 11-14 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Spokespeople at both companies said they would skip the annual Natl. Assn. of Broadcasters' show because they preferred to shift their resources and reach their customers in other ways.

“Apple has been cutting back its participation at shows for the past few years because there are better ways to reach our customers,” said Apple spokesman Anuj Nayar.

Nayar said the company will focus on its retail stores and Web sites, which are utilized by “100 million customers around the world.”

How much of the decision not to exhibit was part of corporate cost-cutting measures, Nayar would not say. He also would not comment on whether Apple would have any type of presence at the show.

Apple's stock was trading at $124.63 at press time, down from a 52-week high of $192.65 on Nov. 7. For the quarter that ended Dec. 29, Apple's earnings were up 58 percent compared with the same quarter a year earlier. However, the company's earnings forecast for the current quarter is lower than those of most Wall Street analysts.

Jeff Stewart, vice president of marketing for Avid's video division, said his company's decision in November to pull out of NAB after 18 years would not extend to its presence at other tradeshows, nor was it due to economic factors.

“We'll be using resources that we would have invested at NAB to reach customers and prospects in new ways in 2008,” he added. “(The decision) not to exhibit at NAB is based on the plans we have to dramatically shift our marketing strategy and unveil a series of highly personalized activities that we believe will shake things up for the industry.”

As a result of consumer surveys, Stewart said, the company discovered its customers were more interested in learning how Avid could “help them solve their day-to-day production challenges and less concerned with whether we have an exhibition presence at major tradeshows like NAB.”

Avid, a maker of film and music editing equipment, also saw its stock tumble after the release of an earnings report for the quarter that ended Dec. 31. The company reported an increase in revenue, from $239 million in the same period the year before to $258 million. But, similar to Apple, because of lower projections for this quarter than analysts expected, Avid's stock price on the day of the earnings report, Jan. 31, dropped from $26 to $18.63, its lowest level since 2003.

Avid said it had a 14,400 square foot booth at last year's show. Apple wouldn't comment on the size of its booth last year but, by all accounts, it had an even larger piece of the showfloor.

Dennis Wharton, NAB's executive vice president of media relations, said of Apple, “One exhibitor won't make or break the show,” and that he thought the company would still have a “considerable presence” at NAB.

Wharton said he expects the show to be at least as large as last year's, which spanned 906,000 net sq. ft. and had 1,635 exhibitors and more than 75,000 attendees.

“The big dogs will still be here,” Wharton said. They include Panasonic, Sony, Microsoft, IBM and JVC. “Five hundred (existing) exhibitors are increasing their booth size from last year, and there are 220 new exhibitors,” he added.

What's more, Wharton said, a number of other companies in Avid's field of post-production software, such as Autodesk, Adobe, Media 100 and Quantal Intl., would still be on the showfloor. “I don't think there will be a gap,” he added.

Stewart said Avid may still “have a small presence in some of our partners' booths.”

Reaction was largely negative in the comments section of an online version of a Macworld article after Apple announced its withdrawal from NAB.

“This is like Apple abandoning its users and products,” one reader wrote. Another addressed Apple CEO Steve Jobs directly: “Steve, with this move it appears that you have abandoned the professional world. Along with Avid?”

Jonathan Seff, the senior news editor for Macworld who wrote the article, said, “The comments seemed to be showing some anger that (Apple) is not as serious about the professional market as they used to be.”

According to Wharton, NAB exhibitors generate $50 billion in annual sales and, he added, “if you want to be a real player in this space, you obviously have to have a presence at NAB.”