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

To: Steve Andrew who wrote (17705)	9/9/1998 10:49:00 AM
From: Mark Palmberg	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213177

I have contacted several of Apples' largest retail accounts and have heard, to a tee, the fact that they are being told to order more IMAC product than they otherwise would inorder to get time-shipped a realistic amount. Go git 'im, Eric! So basically Jobs et all are lying to everyone about not having enough supply to meet demand. You're only referring to the iMac, right, Steve? In the end, "sales is sales." You talk as though the iMac is the last product Apple will ever ship. Interesting. Good luck to you, Steve. Mark

To: Steve Andrew who wrote (17705)	9/9/1998 12:06:00 PM
From: Mosko	Respond to of 213177

Those poor retailers, having to order all those Imacs and then, <gasp!> ....sell them all! Oh, the horror..... As for press hype, I consider hype to be made of exagerations and lies. From what I can tell the Imac is actually selling like hotcakes and it is a great product that people are impressed enough with to go out and buy. I call that successful advertising. Michael Dell is Mr. Spin Doctor himself, spitting out timely press releases right and left with the purpose of supporting his stock. I don't see his stockholders complaining. As the man said : sales are sales!

To: Steve Andrew who wrote (17705)	9/9/1998 12:17:00 PM
From: Travis	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213177

They are accomplishing this by virtue of engaging in serious channel stuffing and press hype. I have contacted several of Apples' largest retail accounts and have heard, to a tee, the fact that they are being told to order more IMAC product than they otherwise would inorder to get time-shipped a realistic amount. you have GOT to be kidding. CompUSA itself has issued a press release saying the iMac is the best selling computer launch in history. -travis

To: Steve Andrew who wrote (17705)	9/9/1998 12:53:00 PM
From: HerbVic	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 213177

Remember folks! This is our money we're playing with. The initial rollout of the iMac is over. Apple will be trying to maintain the surge in momentum. The channel stuffing is evident in East Texas. Let's hear some reports from other areas. That said, Apple's tactic is most likely to be one of trying to sell off the excess inventory over the Christmas holidays in some blowout promotional campaign. At the same time, I expect a second price tier iMac to be presented. There is also a possibility of a handheld device being introduced. (vaguely rumored) I think Steve is 'right on' about the channel stuffing, but I think SJ has a plan to clear the channel painlessly. Unless he is trying to sell the company before the chickens come home to roost. HerbVic

To: Steve Andrew who wrote (17705)	9/9/1998 8:10:00 PM
From: Zen Dollar Round	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213177

I absolutely do not trust Steve Jobs and his team and have history in my pocket to prove it. In your "8-10 year history of trading this name," at no time was Steve Jobs running the company until recently. With Apple's efforts to cut inventory levels, why would they stuff the channels and make this number shoot skyward? Answer is, they wouldn't. Your supposed "facts" are the Apple of old. Apple itself has stated they wish to move toward the Dell model, your dubious comments notwithstanding. I can believe there are certain low-traffic CompUSA outlets and other retailers carrying iMacs that have extras in inventory, but I believe this to be the exception, not the rule. I ordered an iMac today from MacMall for my mother, and the sales guy sounded surprised when they actually had them in stock. That gave me the impression they've frequently been out of stock on the iMac. No sales problem there. Apple's biggest problem as I can see it is their inability to make enough PowerBooks and desktop and minitower G3s, not an oversupply of the iMac. I don't know who the hell you are, but you have no history on this thread, and I'm sorry you've decided to introduce yourself in such a poor manner with these unsubstantiated claims. I find it hard to believe you have that many contacts at Apple's "largest retail accounts" and are given this inventory information simply at your request. You come off as a troll with a big short position in AAPL to feed, despite your protests to the contrary. Good luck.

To: Steve Andrew who wrote (17705)	9/9/1998 9:30:00 PM
From: soup	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 213177

Mac Glut? >I have contacted several of Apples' largest retail accounts and have heard, to a tee, the fact that they are being told to order more IMAC product than they otherwise would inorder to get time-shipped a realistic amount.?< From my vantage point as a lowly Mac salesperson, AAPL is moving product without pressuring distributors to take on extra inventory. To reply to the point of your post, they appear to be managing inventory well. Low and mid-level inventory are available with some constraint on the high-end. We are selling at MAP with no pressure to drop prices to move them out. I know that, before the debut, Tekserve (the Mac dealer I work at) placed orders with two distributors for 40 iMacs each, hoping one would get to us ontime. We got both orders and loaned 20 out to another retailer. I don't know if we received a subsequent shipment, but we now have about ten in inventory. These should move in about a week. Hardly a glut. Note: We have a service oriented "power user" client base, so iMac sales are a lower percentage of total. (Had someone call in to ask if the iMac was a "PC". Hoy!) Other CPUs are moving nicely. Last week, we had 10 low-middle 266 G3 Desktops at $1600, that we were a little worried about. Today my boss said we had only 3 left. 300mhz Desktops with Zip or DVD/Video are at $2,000 are good values for the Photoshop crowd -- as are base level 233 mhz G3s at $1400 for the upgrader with an investment in scsi/adb/serial peripherals. Today I sold a 333 mhz G3 w/2 fast and wide drives, 384mb, CDR plus a Nikon CoolScan and extras. The woman was upgrading form a Pentium system. A $7,000 order -- too bad I don't work on commission. The new line of Powerbooks starting at $2800 with 14" screens and backside cache are as close to a no compromise good deal as I can think of. I've even asked my boss to restock our supply of 2400c Powerbooks at $1500. We got two dozen last month that I previously thought we couldn't clear till January! Bottom line -- I see no evidence of "channel stuffing" you talk about.