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Technology Stocks : Apple Inc. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mark Palmberg who wrote (6324)	11/12/1997 1:07:00 PM
From: joe caetano	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213173

Mark... Dataquest makes Positive comments on the new changes at Apple...............are'nt these the same guys who said we would go bust over the cloning issue !!? Analysts weigh Apple's announcements By Leander Kahney (leander_kahney@macweek.com) Apple's new G3-based machines will be a hit, analysts said following interim Apple CEO Steve Job's announcements yesterday. Analysts were also upbeat on the company's changes to the way customers can purchase Macs, including plans to build systems to order and selling them online, as well as new Apple storefronts in large resellers. "I think [the new G3 models] will earn Apple a profit this quarter," said Kimball Brown, analyst with Dataquest Inc. of San Jose, Calif. He said the midrange systems, based on the speedy PowerPC 750 processor, also called G3, will appeal primarily to the installed base of Mac users who want to upgrade to faster systems. However, Brown said, the models may not draw in price-conscious buyers in the consumer market, especially with PC vendors offering a wide selection of sub-$1,000 Intel-standard PC systems. The average buyer "couldn't care less how fast these things are; they care about how much they cost," Brown said. Meanwhile, analysts were mostly positive about the company's Apple's new online store at store.apple.com. Brown said Apple shouldn't have too many problems with its online store. "They're taking baby steps. They're starting by offering only three machines that use a lot of standard, snap-in parts." Building machines to order will also help Apple trim operating expenses, according to Eric Lewis, manager of personal systems research at International Data Corp. of Framingham, Mass. However, Lewis said, the company's past problems managing inventory won't necessarily be solved by a new manufacturing model. "Build-to-order doesn't eliminate the inventory problem, it just shifts it from the channel to manufacturing," he said. "The hard part is making sure all the parts are in stock." In addition, Lewis said Apple's offer of free shipping to online customers could prove significant. He said the standard shipping charge for most PC companies can add an extra $50 to $100 to the price tag of a system. Without the charge, machines ordered online will cost about the same as machines bought from a reseller. James Staten, a Dataquest analyst, said some Apple resellers should feel a bit threatened by the company's new online store, but not too threatened. "Some of the smaller resellers should be worried, but many were saying they're going to get out [of the Mac market] anyway," Staten said. "They either need to specialize now or get out." Staten pointed to the new store-within-a-store setups as a positive move for Apple. The G3 products and channel changes "are just the stuff Apple needs to shore up confidence in the market," he said "They're right where they need to be."