Macworld 2011 to include Microsoft, HP, OWC, Dr. Bott, Monster, more

After a highly successful 2010 event in February which caught some observers by surprise, IDG has begun releasing details for Macworld 2011. While the event will once again not include the participation of Apple itself, several heavy hitters from the Macintosh (plus iPhone, iPad, iPod) universe have officially signed on to participate in the 2011 show, which will take place in late January in San Francisco.

Chief among the announced exhibitors is Microsoft which, while seen as an Apple rival in some aspects, provides Macintosh users with a Mac version of its Office suite. Also on board is Hewlett Packard which, again despite being one of Apple’s rivals in the computer market, is also one of the primary providers of printers to the Mac market. Additional returning exhibitors include accessory distributor Dr. Bott; headphone makers Monster and Sennheiser, plus accessory makers Scosche; Other World Computing, FastMac, Mophie, and Trexta; Mac software makers SmileOnMyMac, OmniGroup, and MacSpeech; and technology titan Fujitsu. The published list does not include iPhone app developers, who made up the largest group of new Macworld exhibitors this past year.

Macworld 2010 saw an exhibit hall which was crowded almost to the point of annoyance, along with feature presentations from David Pogue, Leo Laporte, director Kevin Smith, musician BT, and Daring Fireball’s John Gruber. While some had preemptively written off the 2010 event due to Apple’s lack of participation, the six hundred journalists in attendance generally agreed that the event was an all around success.

The published dates for Macworld 2011 are January 25th through 29th. Registration for the expo has not yet opened.