October 31, 1996
Web posted at: 5:50 a.m. EDT
MONTEREY, California (Reuter) - Apple
Computer Inc. plans to release a new line of
computers as early as 1998 that will run an
operating system written from scratch, Chief
Executive Gilbert Amelio said Wednesday.
The new operating system -- the fundamental
software that controls the
basic functions of the computer -- will
leapfrog Microsoft Corp.'s
competing family of Windows software, Amelio
told investors at the
American Electronics Association conference in
Monterey.
"When you are the minority player in the
marketplace, as we are, you
need something other than market share to
distinguish yourself,"
Amelio said.
Amelio declined to specify what the new
software would look like or
how it would outperform Windows. But he
promised it would
"completely change the way" people get their
work done on computers
through applications, such as word processing
and spreadsheets.
Earlier this year, Apple said it would abandon
the overhaul of its
Macintosh operating system, an effort
code-named Copland. Apple
programmers will use some of the components of
Copland but will
practically start from scratch, Amelio said.
Operations, product top priority
Amelio also told investors, as he has done
recently, that increasing the
struggling computer maker's revenue and market
share would not be a
priority until he could improve the company's
operations and product
lines.
The effort may take until 1998.
"I have to have a solid foundation before I can
build a castle," Amelio
said. Without a solid foundation, Apple would
improve its financial
performance for one or two quarters but slide
again, he said.
Apple, whose headquarters are in Cupertino,
California, reported an
unexpected profit of $25 million for the last
three months of fiscal 1996,
down from a profit of $60 million a year ago.
Many on Wall Street had
expected the company to post a loss for the
quarter.
Investors have given Amelio credit for moving
quickly to improve
product quality, cut costs and fix production
snafus. Apple is likely to
report good progress in the next two quarters
as well, said Michael
Murphy, president of the California Technology
Stock Letter and an
investment fund. it faces "worrisome" quarters
after March, Murphy
added.
"Amelio's getting closer to fixing the
company's problems," he said,
"but we're not going to go back in yet."
Copyright 1996 Reuters Limited. All rights
reserved.
--"The future masters of technology will have to be lighthearted and intelligent. The machine easily masters the grim and the dumb." - Marshall McLuhan 1969
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