Apple Unveils New Macs, Plan to Sell Over Net
Trying to revive some of the showmanship that made Apple Computer Inc. famous, interim Chief Executive Steve Jobs, as expected, unveiled new products and a new sales scheme at an elaborate event in Cupertino on Monday--but left many of the most critical questions facing the company unanswered.
Speaking from the same stage he stood on when he unveiled the first Macintosh computer in 1984, Jobs delighted hundreds of employees in attendance with a rousing presentation that included a strange attack on Dell Computer founder Michael Dell.
But Jobs did not discuss the search for his replacement, plans to build a network computer or even reveal much about the company’s long-term strategy.
Instead, he introduced a new line of Macintosh computers dubbed the G3, a reference to the third generation of PowerPC chips that power the new machines. He also demonstrated a new Web site that will enable consumers to order machines directly from Apple for the first time and announced a build-to-order manufacturing scheme.
Analysts said the new products and sales approach are signs of progress. But they also noted that they were mostly steps that other companies have already taken and offered little reassurance that the company will be able to pull out of a prolonged tailspin.
“This is event marketing,” said Kimball Brown, an analyst at Dataquest who attended the event. “There is no silver bullet here.”
In particular, Brown and other analysts were skeptical of Apple’s approach to direct sales, because the company’s online prices will be the same as those in stores. The company does not plan to do away with resellers and distributors, even though it is the elimination of such middlemen that has enabled true direct sellers such as Dell to undercut the market.
The new computers, including desktop and laptop machines, outperform many of the best PCs built with Intel Corp. microprocessors and are priced between $1,999 and $5,699. But the new machines don’t address the fastest-growing segment of the computer market: the low end.
“They need something in the mainstream, and $1,999 is not it,” said Eric Lewis, an analyst at International Data Corp. “I’m troubled by their lack of presence in the sub-$1,500 category.”
In a strange departure from a fairly straightforward script, Jobs took several minutes to respond to a recent swipe at Apple by Michael Dell.
At a recent trade show, Dell was asked what he would do if he were CEO of Apple. “I’d shut it down,” he replied, “and give the money back to the shareholders.”
The remark piqued Jobs, who has been running Apple since July. “I thought this was really rude,” said Jobs, who proceeded to show a slide of the definition of the word “rude” and then a slide of Dell with a target painted across his face.
Jobs went even further, unveiling a TV commercial scheduled to air in January that he said is directed at Dell.
It shows black-and-white footage of Muhammad Ali early in his boxing career, jabbing and taunting a cameraman. The viewer sees little more than Ali’s fist and his bobbing face.
