indeed...aapl is looking like a geat play...
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Wednesday December 30, 6:54 pm Eastern Time
Apple likely to have some surprises for MacWorld show
(Adds Apple saying it has no plans to introduce new consumer portable at MacWorld, grafs 4-5)
By Therese Poletti
SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The rumor mills are churning again with speculation about what Apple Computer Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs has up his sleeve for next week's MacWorld Expo, the big trade show for the Macintosh faithful.
Buoyed by the success of the highly popular iMac machines for consumers, Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL - news) is widely expected to unveil its next generation of professional desktop Power Macintoshes, code-named Yosemite, with the curved, translucent design that helped make the iMac a hit.
Jobs, still Apple's interim chief executive and master showman, also is likely to tout iMac's holiday sales at the trade show in San Francisco.
Some industry experts had even speculated that Apple might use MacWorld to show off its much-rumored consumer portable now in the works, reportedly called the WebMate, but an Apple spokeswoman denied that.
''Although our policy is not to comment on future products, we are in this case confirming that we are not announcing a consumer portable at MacWorld,'' said Tami Begasse, Apple spokeswoman.
The WebMate is expected to come with iMac styling and a clam-shell shape, much like the old eMate for the education market. Apple has said it will have a consumer portable sometime in early 1999.
Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., closed for the holidays and officials the past two weeks have generally declined to comment on its plans for MacWorld.
But Jobs, who stunned last year's MacWorld with an announcement that the company had returned to profitability after losing $1.6 billion over two years, is expected to talk about the red-hot sales of the iMac that helped revive the formerly struggling computer maker.
''I think he will brag about the iMacs to the last decimal point,'' said Richard Doherty, director of Envisioneering Group, a consulting firm in Seaford, N.Y. ''There is no single model from Compaq, Dell or IBM that comes close.''
Since the novel translucent turquoise-and-ice-colored iMac began shipping in August, it has been a top-selling computer at retail stores and through mail order. According to PC Data Inc., a market research firm in Reston, Va., the iMac was the No. 1 selling PC at retail in the month of November.
''It's been steady for us since the introduction,'' said Tony Violanti, vice president of sales and marketing of Computer Town, an Apple retailer with stores in Salem, N.H., and Boston. ''November was an excellent month for us ... I think December was probably a bit better than November.''
Analysts said Apple was also expected to refresh the iMac with new models with faster processors and possibly some new built-in features, such as a DVD player, and a bigger monitor.
''We expect at the very least for the next iMac to come out, which would force pricing of the original iMac down a little bit,'' said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies Inc., a consulting firm in Campbell, Calif.
Already, Best Buy Co. Inc. has reduced the price of the iMac to $1,099 from Apple's suggested retail price of $1,299. Other stores, such as Computer Town, are not cutting the price but are including bundles, so consumers get $100 to $200 worth of extra products or rebates on peripherals such as printers.
''Back then (when Apple introduced the iMac), it was competitive, but prices have dropped so much in the consumer market ... they should lower the price,'' said James Staten, an analyst with Gartner Group Inc.'s Dataquest in San Jose, Calif.
At the trade show, Apple is expected to unveil the ''Yosemite'' Power Macs, with a translucent, curved design reminiscent of the iMac, to freshen its G3 line.
''They are going to leverage the look of the iMac,'' Staten said. The successors to the current G3s also will have new PowerPC processors, running at speeds of 300, 350 and 400 megahertz and prices from about $1,900 to $3,500.
Jobs also may give some indication about Apple's fiscal first-quarter results, which it will report Jan. 13.
Apple is also expected to unveil a much anticipated version of its multimedia authoring and playback software, Quicktime. Analysts said QuickTime Version 4.0 could take some share from the video and audio streaming software from RealNetworks Inc. (Nasdaq:RNWK - news) and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news)
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