Comdex: Over - and out?

Computer industry analysts, marketers and journalists are now facing their first pre-Thanksgiving week in a quarter century without the Comdex trade show in Las Vegas.

Comdex organiser MediaLive International announced earlier this year that it was cancelling Comdex 2004, saying the company needed time to rebuild the show after years of declining attendance, inconsistent marketing and growing competition from events such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.

Stephen Baker, an analyst at research firm The NPD Group, is enjoying the change in routine.

Baker said neither he nor any of his colleagues and contacts were pining for Comdex, which usually lasts four or five days and at its peak attracted more than 200,000 attendees.

"I haven't heard anyone mention anything about it," he said. "It's kind of like your first wife - after a while, you just don't think about her very often."

MediaLive has next year's Comdex booked for 13 to 17 November, but Baker and other analysts are sceptical about whether the company can pull it off. MediaLive vice-president Eric Faurot didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

"I don't know of any shows that have been able to bring themselves back," Baker said. "I still think there's a need for another broad-based show to take some of the pressure off CES, but I don't know if Comdex is going to be it. I guess the fact nobody I know has really thought about it this year shows nobody really misses it."

Roger Kay, an analyst for research company IDC and another Comdex veteran, said MediaLive will have to fix a number of long-standing problems - including overpriced booth space that pushed many exhibitors to conduct private meetings at hotels - to make the event work again.

"They're going to have to promise it's not going to be the rapacious experience it was in the past, where it got to the point that only the richest companies like Microsoft could afford to just throw money at it and not worry about whether it was money well spent," Kay said.

David Becker writes for CNET News.com.