Although Apple had already confirmed that Macworld 2009 was the last for the Mac maker, Phil Schiller insisted on pointing out to the company's reasons for the pullout once again, while delivering the keynote address.

Going by Apple's official statement, the company's retail stores attract so many customers each day, that it would be impractical for it to continue focusing its attention on trade shows like Macworld. Keynote speaker Phil Schiller revealed that Apple's stores already attracted the equivalent of 100 Macworld expos each week!

“It’s an incredibly exicting time at Apple,” he said. “There is so much going on across all of our businesses all around the world. And you can feel it in so many ways, but probably no where better than in all these incredible stores that (Sr. V-P Retail) Ron (Johnson) and his team have opened around the world,” Schiller added, according to an ifoAppleStore coverage.

He went on with showing photos of some of the most successful and glamorous stores, including the Sanlitun (Beijing), the Bahnhofstrasse (Munich), the Fifth Avenue (NYC) stores, and finally, the George Street (Sydney) store, pointing out that “A beautiful city has a beautiful Apple store.” The imagery is indeed breathtaking, you have to agree.




The George Street (Sydney, Australia) Grand Opening (click to enlarge)
Credits: ifoAppleStore

“I don’t know about you,” he continued, “but when I look at this photo, when I look at that big, gorgeous [sic] glowing Apple up in front if it, I think–what other company’s logo could be there, could you ever imagine in that photo? I can’t. I can’t think of one company in the world that could have a store that beautiful, such incredible customers bringing all their energy and love to visit with our stores, and talk to the sales consultant and get help with the Geniuses and do one-to-one training. I couldn’t imagine any other company delivering something like that,” he emphasized.

Wanting to get right to the point, Schiller concluded by saying that “Every week now, 3.4 million customers visit an Apple store around the world. [...] That’s 100 Macworlds each and every week, going on around the world in our Apple stores. So, it’s no wonder [...] that what’s happening with these Apple stores is so important to us,” Schiller ended his plea that was met with applause.