Apple Hopes For Boost From Clones Power Computing To Introduce Pcs That Offer More Power, Lower Cost
Will Power Computing do to Apple Computer what Compaq Computer did to IBM?
Monday, the Mac clone maker will unveil a handful of machines that offer more power at cheaper prices than four new computers Apple announced last week, evoking comparisons with Compaq’s successful strategy of selling faster, specialized IBM-compatible PCs a decade earlier.
“Power has a couple of advantages over Apple: It doesn’t have to contend with parts shortages because it builds only a fraction of the machines that Apple does, and it can go to market faster with customized PCs because it’s a much smaller company,” said Pieter Hartsook, editor of a technology newsletter based in Alameda. “Apple is sometimes hobbled by its size.”
Sources said Power will introduce two new lines: PowerTower, a family of $4,000 to $5,000 machines that are the fastest Macs on the market; and PowerCenter, low-end and mid-range models that - priced at $2,500 to $5,000 - stack up competitively with Power Macs.
Meanwhile, Apple last week served up a quartet of low- to high-end Power Macs priced from $2,000 to $5,000 that tout greater compatibility with Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system.
But Power’s working relationship with Apple has a different wrinkle than the Compaq-IBM tag-team effort. Power may be giving Apple’s languishing market share a boost, analysts said, while Compaq simply chewed into IBM’s PC sales.
“This is good for the Mac operating system,” Hartsook said. “Power is offering an aggressive, high-end alternative to Windows-based machines, and it helps build market share for the Mac.”
The 300-person company - which is based in Austin, Texas, and has R&D facilities in Cupertino - sold 100,000 units in the second half of 1995. Hartsook forecasts Power will sell 250,000 machines this year.
Nonetheless, Power is experiencing growing pains. It doesn’t have the customer service and support nor the brand name recognition of Apple, industry observers said. What’s more, the company has recently stumbled with technical glitches.
But Apple is just happy to have a successful licensee after a sputtering start to its cloning effort. “Power lets us more broadly cover the market at all price points and configurations,” said Ross Ely, Apple’s Power Mac product line manager.
Industry observers said it also lets Apple discard some of what chief executive Gil Amelio calls a cluttered product line and concentrate on the home, business and education markets.
xxxx A POWER BOOST Power has carved out a successful niche selling high-margin, top-of-the-line Mac clones.