MacExpo comeback plotted for early 2012

Apple exhibition could be returning to the UK in January after five years away

The Apple channel is being urged to support a bid to bring back the defunct MacExpo UK event next year.

The annual Apple exhibition was discontinued five years ago. But Robert Peckham, former Mac director of the Technology Channels Association (TCA), told Channelweb that plans are afoot to relaunch the show in London next January.

"The time is right to bring it back. The MacWorld exhibition in San Francisco had record attendances last year and the Apple user base is growing on a daily basis," said Peckham.

The finer details of the event have not been "signed and sealed" yet, he said, but it is hoped the event will take place at the ExCeL venue in London.

The show will have a "trade aspect" and Peckham is looking to drum up support for the event within the Apple Premium Reseller (APR) channel.

"It will be an end-user show, but we plan to make a portion of it trade-only for a set time," he explained. "Part of my role in this is to get onboard resellers and small Apple ecosystem vendors that would like to exhibit."

Mia Harper, marketing manager at APR Square Group, said it would be good to see the show back up and running, but with a couple of improvements.

"I hope that if they do bring the show back, they will [offer] reasonable rates to exhibit," she said. "It would be fantastic if they could attract more manufacturers and vendors holding unmissable seminars and special offers, giving the attendees a worthwhile experience to rival Macworld San Francisco."