COMDEX
former computer expo
COMDEX (an abbreviation of COMputer Dealers' EXhibition) was a computer expo trade show held in the Las Vegas Valley of Nevada, United States, 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 one of the largest trade shows in any industry sector. COMDEX exhibitions were held in many other countries from 1982 to 2005, with 185 shows altogether. The first COMDEX was held in 1979 at the MGM Grand (now Horseshoe), with 167 exhibitors and 3,904 attendees. In 1981, the first COMDEX/Spring was held in New York City.
History
Organizers
The Interface Group
COMDEX was started by The Interface Group, whose organizers included Sheldon Adelson, and Richard Katzeff. In 1995, they sold the show to the Japanese technology conglomerate Softbank Corp. In 2001, Softbank sold the show to Key3Media, a spin-off of Ziff Davis. After entering 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.
The public source identifies “COMDEX” as former computer expo. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around COMDEX, former and computer.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1023993. Authority coordinates are 36.132, -115.184. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1979, 2003, 1982 and 2005.
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This entry incorporates text from “COMDEX” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.