Roll up for Comdex 2002

As the crowds start to descend on Las Vegas this weekend for the 23rd annual Comdex trade show, a somewhat subdued atmosphere reflects the current traumatic times for the IT industry.

Not only are visitor numbers down - around 125,000 are expected compared to over 200,000 at the height of the technology boom two years ago - but Comdex organisers, Key3Media, has warned it may have to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

A $21m loss last year prompted Key3Media to say it "cannot continue to operate its businesses in the near term under its existing capital structure" in its earnings report last week. This could include the restructuring, merger or sale of the company, leading to speculation this could be the last ever Comdex.

That said, while hype has been replaced with a sober air of reality, the show is still able to attract the biggest names and characters in the industry.

Microsoft's Bill Gates will kick off proceedings here on Sunday evening, with keynotes later in the week from Hewlett Packard (HP) chief executive and chairman Carly Fiorina and Sun Microsytems chief executive Scott McNealy - who mysteriously withdrew from Oracle's annual Oracleworld event at San Francisco last week.

McNealy's keynote will address the state of network computing and the IT landscape in general. He will also look at the future of network computing, measuring the progress of Sun since its "Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime on Any Device" vision nearly a decade ago.

Wireless - a hot topic at last year's show - is expected to be high on the agenda of suppliers and delegates alike. Gates is expected to talk about two tablet PCs and technology to create home networks.

HP will debut new products including the Compaq Tablet PC, HP Media Center PC and an updated portfolio of HP iPAQ Pocket PCs as well as promising "a few surprises".

Dell is tipped to announce whether it will use Intel's Itanium 2 processor or AMD's Hammer chip in its high-end servers. The company is currently evaluating both chips and has said it will make a decision before the end of the year.

United Linux - exclusively unveiled by vnunet.com earlier this year - will also preview new product from SuSE and SCO. The first beta versions were released in September and both companies will release products that will improve high-end management capability.