szatezal@MAGNUS.ACS.OHIO-STATE.EDU (Shane M Zatezalo) (03/19/91)
Apple's Sculley Looks for a Breakthrough
Friday, March 15, 1991 Wall Street Journal
John Sculley, chief executive officer of Apple Computer Inc., is giving
up some authority over new-product efforts to spend more time on potential
"breakthrough" projects he thinks will push the Cupertino, Calif., company
into vast new markets. "The things we're interested in go beyond the
definition of personal computing as we know it today," Mr. Sculley says.
Mr. Sculley disclosed his plans to reorganize research and development
activities in a meeting last week with about 50 senior managers. Details
must be worked out, but he stressed he remains chief technical officer and
retains the last word "on product decisions and our technical relations with
other companies."
Mr. Sculley has handed off day-to-day responsibility for most product
lines to Michael Spindler, Apple's chief operating officer. That's a boost
for Mr. Spindler, a native of Germany who is widely credited with installing
fresh vigor at Apple, the world's second-largest supplier of personal
computers. Since Mr. Spindler was promoted from European chief a year ago,
Apple has introduced a spate of products at aggressive prices to increase its
slumping share of the PC market. The tactic appears to have worked so well
that the company's market share has made "a phenomenal comeback," InfoCorp.,
a market researcher, says.
With Apple's traditional computer business on an upswing, Mr. Sculley
wants to push the company into new areas. People who know him well say he is
driven to push Apple into a sharply different product category that would
equal or surpass the company's Macintosh computer, considered a stunning
breakthrough when it was released in the mid-1980s. [HEAR THAT MAC OWNERS!!
SCULLEY IS GOING TO DO THE SAME THING TO YOU AS HE DID TO THE II LINE]
The Macintosh line, which accounts for most of Apple's revenue, has been
improved under Mr. Sculley, but was sponsored originally by Stephen Jobs, Mr.
Sculley's predecessor as chief executive and an Apple co-founder.
Mr. Sculley, who has no formal training in engineering and first made
his reputation as a marketer at Pepsi, has long wanted to put to rest the
charge that he has flourished as Apple's chief executive simply by skillfully
managing the legacy of Mr. Jobs, who left the company almost six years ago.
Thirteen months ago, Mr. Sculley took complete charge of Apple's product
activities and has impressed some industry watchers. "Though he's really not
a nerd, he is a good product strategist," says Stewart Alsop, editor of PC
Letter, a newsletter.
Mr. Sculley's best bet to gain credit for a breakthrough product may lie
with an unannounced effort to build a notebook sized computer that recognizes
handwriting. The project, code-named "Newton," may appeal to consumers who
would rather write than type and prefer an "electronic notebook" to a
conventional computer. "Newton" is critical because rivals including IBM are
working on such gadgets.
Apple may seek to distinguish itself by incorporating wireless
communications in its electronic notebooks. Mr. Sculley says he is a fan of
an emerging class of machines called personal communicators, which some
envision as a combination cellular phone and pocket computer. Another
project centers on a proposed product that, if released, would represent
Apple's entry into consumer electronics. This "living room" system combines
a compact-disc player and a stripped down Macintosh(minus disk drives,
keyboard, monitor). It can be operated by a remote control device of the
sort used to change tv channels (though it won't manipulate live tv signals).
The device, to sell for under $1000, would display the audio, visual and
text content of a specially made CD and would pit Apple against Nintendo Inc.
for the loyalty of the world's electronic entertainment addicts.mike@maths.tcd.ie (MIKE ROGERS) (03/21/91)
In article <CMM.0.90.2.669325802.szatezal@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>, szatezal@MAGNUS.ACS.OHIO-STATE.EDU (Shane M Zatezalo) wrote: >Apple's entry into consumer electronics. This "living room" system combines >a compact-disc player and a stripped down Macintosh(minus disk drives, >keyboard, monitor). It can be operated by a remote control device of the >sort used to change tv channels (though it won't manipulate live tv signals). >The device, to sell for under $1000, would display the audio, visual and >text content of a specially made CD and would pit Apple against Nintendo Inc. >for the loyalty of the world's electronic entertainment addicts. Isn't this just an Amiga CDTV or some sort of CD/I? It really looked to me from the entire article that Apple didn't have a single original idea lined up. I mean, a Dynabook and consumer CDROM aren't exactly groundbreaking. Then again, would you necessarily broadcast your cutest idea at large to the industry? -- Mike Rogers,Box 6,Regent Hse,## Everyone should try to kill themselves once in a TCD,EIRE. <mike@maths.tcd.ie>## while, it gives you a whole new outlook on life. ###############################DON'T MISS TRINCON400 7th, 8th, 9th FEBRUARY 1992 And she wore Black Contact Lenses when you said you liked her eyes......Toasties