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Posted at 7:53 p.m. PDT Wednesday, April 22, 1998
Who has eyes on Apple?
April 23, 1998
BY CHRIS NOLAN
Mercury News Staff Writer
IT has a shiny new profitable skin. Its stock price, moving toward $30,
is giving it a nice, healthy glow. So many in Silicon Valley are waiting
for the announcement that someone has picked off Apple Computer.
The likeliest candidates, say observers, are consumer electronics
manufacturers who might be interested in Apple for its brand name. Many
criticize the company's technology for falling behind, but Apple's
customers are fiercely loyal.
And customer loyalty, to someone eyeing the growing importance of
digital devices in the consumer electronics business, is an asset.
Remember too that foreign-based consumer electronics firms have bought
brands before: RCA is now a part of the French-owned Thomson Consumer
Electronics. Magnavox is owned by Philips Consumer Electronics, a Dutch
firm. Zenith is mostly owned by LG Electronics, headquartered in South
Korea.
According to one source with ties to a consumer electronics giant, the
two companies most interested in Apple are Matsushita, which owns the
Panasonic brand, and Sony Corp. They are some of the companies that have
looked into the possibility that Apple is worth purchasing, said the
source. ''There is no such thing,'' said a Sony spokesman.
Executives at Apple say they have heard no such rumors and that such
talk is unfounded. Apple spokeswoman Katie Cotton declined to comment
citing company policy against discussing speculation.
You can't blame her. There are almost as many rumors about Apple's
future as there are former Apple employees with spirited opinions about
what the company should do next. A few weeks ago, rumor had the Walt
Disney Co. interested in buying the Cupertino computer company. Mid-last
year, the purchaser was going to be Sun Microsystems.
Still, many of those who know Apple's once-present-and-future CEO Steve
Jobs believe a sale gives him and his company their best -- and maybe
their only -- exit strategy. A high-profile, highly profitable Apple
sale rewarding shareholders for their patience and faith would also be
in keeping with Jobs' leadership style, say some who have worked with
him. He runs his companies flat out, demanding a lot from his employees
in order to get a hit.
Like many computer companies, Apple is getting squeezed by consumer
electronics manufacturers, a trend that's sure to continue as more and
more software moves to silicon.
Jobs is said to have a long-standing regard for Sony -- making it, in
the eyes of one former Apple executive, the most likely partner. ''Steve
would extol Sony,'' the executive said. ''He wanted to do business with
Sony 'just because.' '' Apple and Sony also have something of a
corporate relationship since Sony once manufactured Powerbook 100s. ''I
think he's amenable to selling,'' said the executive. ''I think he would
be open to it.''
SIX OF ONE: Remember the story about the dumpster of Macintosh computers
outside Tandem Computers Inc.? Company spokeswoman Eileen Quinn said the
company donated its used machines to the Detwiler Foundation, which
rehabilitates PCs for schools. Employees at Tandem, which has been
purchased by Compaq Computer Corp. said the machines were just trashed.
It appears they both were right.
Tandem, which seems to be having a rough transition to the Wintel
empire, donated some machines to the foundation. But some of the stuff
was too old to use, said Diana Detwiler, the foundation's executive
director. ''Our primary mission is to help schools get quality
equipment,'' she said.
Tandem has given a lot of computers to the foundation's Computers For
Schools program, she said. ''We've had a long, ongoing relationship with
Tandem for quite a while,'' she said. ''They've really been a friend to
Computers For Schools.''
WOMEN'S WORK: In Silicon Valley, finishing a project and making a lot of
money is just about the coolest thing you can do. So a question about
one of downtown San Jose's most visible projects -- construction of The
Tech Museum of Innovation -- has loomed:
What is the museum, which has called on the support of almost every part
of the community to plan, pay for and construct the building in downtown
San Jose, going to do for its next act?
Tuesday night, The Tech answered that question very nicely with another
of its ''Inventing the Future'' discussions, ''Superior Returns by
Investing in Women.''
This wasn't the usual namby-pamby baloney about great strides having
been made but more will happen as more women come up through the
management ranks. Nope, this conversation, held at Adobe Systems Inc.,
had a few pointed comments, almost all of them from women who had wanted
more and gone out and gotten it.
''It wasn't that I was having bad software ideas, I was having girl
software ideas,'' Purple Moon founder and vice president Brenda Laurel
said of her earlier days in the computer gaming business.
Audience members also got free career advice from Autodesk CEO Carol
Bartz. ''Don't let 'em shove you around,'' said the self-described
''well-known skirt.'' Bartz took a few minutes to talk about the changes
women can make as managers, bragging a little bit about the
consternation she created when she asked for a review of compensation
packages for men and women at a San Francisco company where she is a
board member.
Fun economic facts were provided by Wired co-founder Jane Metcalfe, who
talked about the fast growing number of women-owned businesses and their
importance to the economy. Metcalfe's way south of Market appearance
conferred a certain hipness quotient on downtown San Jose. But she
surprised many by pointing out that management at her magazine -- once
reviled for its boys club attitude -- is almost entirely women. Take
that, geekboy!
If you were looking for funding, you'd have been in luck here, too. DMG
Technology Group CEO Frank Quattrone, father of one daughter, provided
the nicest possible kind of encouragement when he reeled off a long and
impressive list of women executives he and his banks have helped.
Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers Partner John Doerr, the father of two
daughters, also offered a peek at his wallet. Doerr said his firm has a
half-billion dollars invested in women-led companies. And it's looking
for more.''There's way too much money and not enough good teams,'' to
manage.
It's a good example of one of the many ways the Tech hopes to turn its
now-half-finished building into a community institution.
''People were expressing things that are an important part of our core
mission -- to inspire the innovator in everyone,'' said Tech CEO Peter
Giles, the father of four daughters and three sons. ''The thing is never
done.''
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message from Dennis A Sadowski on Apr 23 1998 11:05PM EST
I also believe Jobs continues with the 'Interim' in his CEO title for a
reason -- because of a potential acquisition of AAPL. |
