danl@omsvax.UUCP (06/04/84)
For what it is worth, in the May 21, 1984 issue of Information Systems News, there is an article: "See Apple Dropping Apple III, Lisa II, by Philip J. Gill Although the company has officially denied it, some industry analysts and former Apple Computer Inc. employees said the Cupertino, Calif., personal computer (PC) maker plans to abandon its Apple III and Lisa II models in favor of the newer Macintosh and IIc computers." "... Omri Serlin, president of ITOM International Inc., a Los Altos, Calif., market research firm, ... contends that from all indications the life of Lisa II is likely to be a brief one. Serlin also noted that Apple is only shipping about 2,000 Lisa units per month, which makes its contribution to revenues at the $1 billion firm virtually negligible." Any one want to comment on this?
ech@spuxll.UUCP (Ned Horvath) (06/06/84)
The figures quoted don't make a lot of sense; 2000 units per month at a minimum of $5000/unit equates out to $120 Million/year, hardly a "negligible" fraction of $1 Billion. On a different level (and I do NOT claim to be a marketing expert!) it seems to me that a decision to kill the LISA II would be SILLY. At 2000 units a month it is certainly repaying its development cost. Prior to January 24, I would have EXPECTED a discontinuation of the LISA I - too high a price for a "weird" machine (only the PARC freaks could get excited, and they knew it wasn't REALLY a "Dolphin"). But the II's are more machine for less money than the I's, and more to the point, the Macintosh ANCHORS the whole "Apple 32" line. This is even more the case if (as expected) the Mac drops into the $2k range to make room for the "fat mac" around the end of the year. Where does one go when one outgrows one's Macintosh? The popularity of the Mac makes that question inevitable, and only Apple has an answer today (no doubt I will read in the WSJ tomorrow that Big Blue has announced windowing software for the PC, available 1Q86!). (*sigh*) oh, damn...to any sensible observer it seems ridiculous that Apple would kill the LISA. Guess that means it's gonna happen any minute... =Ned=