COMDEX
| COMDEX | |
|---|---|
| Status | Defunct |
| Genre | Computer show |
COMDEX (an abbreviation of Computer Dealers' Exhibition) was a computer expo held at various locations in the Las Vegas Valley of Nevada, USA, each November from 1979 to 2003. It was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world, usually second only to the German CeBIT, and by many accounts one of the largest trade shows in any industry sector, and COMDEX exhibitions have been held in many other countries from 1982 to 2005, altogether 185 shows. The first COMDEX was held in 1979 at the MGM Grand (now Bally's), with 167 exhibitors and 3904 attendees. In 1981, the first COMDEX/Spring was held in New York City.
COMDEX was started by The Interface Group, whose organizers included Sheldon Adelson, Robert Lively and Richard Katzeff. In 1995, they later sold it to the Japanese technology conglomerate Softbank Corp. In 2001, Softbank sold the show to Key3Media, a spin-off of Ziff Davis. After going into a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 2003, Key3Media resurfaced as Medialive International with a cash infusion from Thomas Weisel Capital Partners, which had previously invested in the company. In November 2006, Forbes magazine reported that United Business Media plc had purchased the events assets of MediaLive International Inc.
COMDEX was originally open only to those directly involved in the computer industry, it was the one show where all levels of manufacturers and developers of computers, peripherals, software, components, and accessories came in direct contact with retailers, consultants and their competitors.
Colloquially known as "Geek Week", COMDEX evolved into a major technical convention, with the industry making major product announcements and releases there. Numerous small companies from around the world rose to prominence following appearance at COMDEX, and industry leaders sought opportunities to make keynote addresses. Most discussed the computer industry, history, trends and future potential. In 1999, Linus Torvalds attended the exhibition to talk about the Linux family of operating system.
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