Molly K. Reed, vice president of operations for , a developer of Mac apps and a longtime show exhibitor, said Apple brought a big spotlight to Macworld. Now there's room in that spotlight.

"With Apple, there were big announcements that got people really excited about the platform," she said. "Of course we miss having that, but without Apple, it's a real opportunity to showcase third-party developers and what they're doing on the platform. When Apple's [at Macworld], they get all the attention, which is tough for a little developer like us to deal with."

Jean MacDonald, a spokeswoman for , agreed. Her company exhibited at Macworld for six years before sitting out last year's expo. Smile is back this year.

"It releases a lot of energy for other, smaller companies to get the attention of show visitors," she said. "We meet our best customers and contacts at Macworld every year. We get to show off products in person, which gives a chance to get feedback from customers...We're part of the Mac community, and we want to support it."

It's not as though there won't be plenty of cool products, as well as indicators about the direction of the Apple universe. Kent said two-thirds of this year's vendors are pitching products aimed at the company's mobile devices--the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Thirty-seven percent of the vendors are at Macworld for the first time. That means lots of entrepreneurs see Apple as a vibrant business to associate with, and should mean a plethora of new products focused on Apple products, even if the company itself is absent.