PMA@CES@???

PMA (Photo Marketing Association) stopped being an independent trade show this year, and joins CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in January 2012. That’s old news, but the new question is for how long. CES itself came under severe pressure today, when Microsoft announced that CES 2012 will be the last time that the company has its own booth at CES and hold a keynote. Of course CES will not cease to exist simply because Microsoft won’t be there anymore, but it is a sign of the times. Big companies do not want to be dictated when to introduce new products by some trade show, they want to make their announcements when they see fit to do so and hold their own press events. Besides, it’s better to have a press event just for your products, than to compete with the rest of the world for the attention of journalists visiting a show. I don’t think that trade shows like CES or photokina will disappear soon, but do expect less and less major announcements at these shows.