Apple to Lay Off 3% of Staff Amid Weaker Earnings

Apple Computer Inc. announced Wednesday that it will lay off 3% of its work force as it struggles with rising customer dissatisfaction and sagging profit.

“Apple is now paying the price for decisions it made several years ago when it elected to go for short-term profit gain rather than taking advantage of its leading position to go for greater market share,” said Jonathan Seybold, publisher of Los Angeles-based Seybold Report on Desktop Publishing.

John A. Sculley, Apple’s chairman and chief executive, blamed the 400 layoffs on the slowing of the U.S. personal computer industry, which, after three years of double-digit growth, is expected to increase no more than 9% in 1990.

But analysts have been criticizing the world’s second-largest personal computer maker for neglecting--and even alienating--its traditional customers.

Apple was particularly faulted for failing to introduce an inexpensive, updated version of its original Macintosh, which has legions of stalwart users worldwide.

Instead, Apple introduced expensive Macintosh models for corporate use, where profit is greater. After numerous delays, Apple also released a portable considered by many as costly, bulky and difficult to read.

Most of the cuts in Apple’s 13,500-member work force, which become effective in two months, will be made in the marketing and distribution departments of Apple’s domestic division and in personnel, finance, community and government affairs and customer service divisions throughout the company.