Apple Turnaround Plan Still On Track

Apple Computer Chairman Gilbert Amelio said on Tuesday that its three-year turnaround plan was still on track despite the companys statement last week that it will report a first-quarter operating loss of as much as $150 million.

Amelio, speaking at the MacWorld trade show here also called on several star computer industry executives to express their support for the Macintosh.

In his much-anticipated keynote speech, Amelio assured Mac customers that the company will have a smooth transition as Apple shores up its finances and overhauls the fundamental software of the Macintosh.

We will encounter a few bumps on the way, but I dont want that to shake your confidence, Amelio told Macintosh customers and software developers. We are sticking to our strategy.

 

Apple has been struggling for the past year to stop huge financial losses, develop new software to make the Mac more modern and increase revenues.

Under Apples three year plan, it aims to stop financial losses in 1996, develop new products in 1997 and increase revenues in 1998.

Since Amelio became chairman of the Cupertino, the Californio-based company a year ago, he has slashed costs.

In December, Apple also agreed to buy NeXT Software for $400 million to get its help in revamping the fundamental software off the Mac.In order to move developers smoothly from Apples current operating system to the new system, the company said it plans to continue to deliver regularly scheduled upgrades to the present system while accelerating development of a new and advanced operating system.

The new operating system, code-named Rhapsody, will be based on the merging of technologies from Apple and NeXT.

Our goal is to be one of the worlds strongest brands for consumer, education and the enterprise, Apple co-founder and Next Software President Steven Jobs said, adding Apple hoped to rely on Nexts multimedia and computing intensive software to accomplish that goal.

Apple said on Friday it expected to report a loss from operations of $100 million to $150 million because of weak sales of its Performa line of Macintosh computers.