Apple pulls out of national retail stores
>NEW YORK - Apple Computer, hammered by falling sales, on Monday said it would pull its Macintosh computers from major national retailers to focus on CompUSA, the biggest U.S. chain devoted to PCs.<
>With its once-dominant share of the PC market shrinking to 3.1% as of the end of last September, Apple had little choice but to cut back, analysts said.<
>Apple sold 25% fewer computers last year, or 2.66 million units, even as overall sales of personal computers surged, according to Computer Intelligence. The industry research firm expects Apple's sales to drop an additional 10% in 1998 as customers continue to choose less expensive PCs that run on Microsoft's Windows operating system. <
>Others said the pullback further relegates Apple to the status of niche player, selling to a limited market of graphic artists, educators and other consumers.<
>"If I was an Apple owner, I would be very disappointed right now there wasn't a place (in my area) I could go to get Mac products. That doesn't give me any choice as a consumer," said David Goldstein, president of Channel Marketing, a Dallas-based research and consultant firm.<
Looks like Apple continues its slow death. When will AAPL reach single numbers?
-jg |
