The success of
Apple's lower-cost consumer models, especially the LC, also led to
cannibalization of their higher priced machines. To address this, management
introduced several new brands, selling largely identical machines at different
price points aimed at different markets. These were the high-end Quadra,
the mid-range Centris line, and the ill-fated Performaseries.
This led to significant market confusion, as customers did not understand the
difference between models.
Apple also experimented with a number of
other unsuccessful consumer targeted products during the 1990s, including digital
cameras, portable CD audio players, speakers, video consoles,
the eWorld online service, and TV appliances. Enormous resources
were also invested in the problem-plagued Newton division based on
John Sculley's unrealistic market forecasts. Ultimately, none of these products helped and
Apple's market share and stock prices continued to slide.
Throughout this period, Microsoft
continued to gain market share with Windows by focusing on delivering
software to cheap commodity personal computers, while Apple was delivering a
richly engineered but expensive experience. Apple relied on high profit
margins and never developed a clear response; instead, they sued Microsoft for
using a GUI similar to the Apple Lisa in Apple Computer, Inc.
v. Microsoft Corp. The lawsuit dragged on for years before it was
finally dismissed. At this time, a series of major product flops and missed
deadlines sullied Apple's reputation, and Sculley was replaced as CEO by Michael
Spindler.
By the early 1990s,
Apple was developing alternative platforms to the Macintosh, such as A/UX.
The Macintosh platform itself was becoming outdated because it was not built
for multitasking and because several important software routines were
programmed directly into the hardware. In addition, Apple was facing
competition from OS/2 and UNIX vendors such as Sun
Microsystems. The Macintosh would need to be replaced by a new platform or
reworked to run on more powerful hardware.
In 1994, Apple allied with IBM and Motorola in
the AIM alliance with the goal of creating a new computing platform
(the PowerPC Reference Platform), which would use IBM and Motorola
hardware coupled with Apple software. The AIM alliance hoped that PReP's
performance and Apple's software would leave the PC far behind and thus counter
Microsoft. The same year, Apple introduced the Power Macintosh, the first
of many Apple computers to use Motorola's PowerPC processor.
In
1996, Spindler was replaced by Gil Amelio as CEO. Amelio made
numerous changes at Apple, including extensive layoffs and cut costs. After
numerous failed attempts to improve Mac OS, first with the Taligent project
and later with Copland and Gershwin, Amelio chose to
purchase NeXT and its NeXTSTEP operating system and bring
Steve Jobs back to Apple
