Amelio out as Apple CEO
July
13, 1997
By JIM BROOKS
Apple Compuer Corp. this week announced its top executive had
resigned.
CEO Gilbert Amelio, who brought National Semiconductor back from
the brink of financial disaster, resigned Wednesday under pressure
from Apple's board of directors.
The beleaguered computer company's sales and profits have continued
to erode -- Macintosh sales have dropped 25 percent in the past
year, industry watchers say.
Since arriving at Apple in January 1996, Amelio has overseen two
company restructurings, the loss of many senior executives and fired
thousands of employees.
But none of it was enough to bring Apple back to profitability.
It's lost money five out of the past six quarters, with revenues
anticipated to be down nearly $3 billion compared to 1995.
Rumor has it that Apple's third-quarter earnings, which will be
announced soon, will report additional losses.
Until a new chief executive is found, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs
will take on additional duties and continue to advice Apple's executives
on products and marketing.
Apple's real strength remains in its users. Macintosh users tend
to be religiously devoted to their machines, and analysts say the
next company chief executive must deliver the "next-generation"
Mac, and hopefully rebuild its presence in the corporate workplace.
YOU AUTO TRY IT. In recent columns, I've reviewed two automotive
price guides that are aimed at helping consumers with the rocess
of buyingg a new or used car or truk.
The Kelly Blue Boo and Edmund onliine price guides offer similar
information: If you know a vehicle's make, model and how it's equipped,
the sites provide an estimate of their value, both as a trade-in
and market value.
But is the information accurate or even helpful?
After using the sites' information in my own recent car purchase,
I can say definitely yes!
My search for a new car began with an after-hours look at what
was on a local dealer's lot.
With clipboard in hand, I copied down the window sticker information
on a couple of new cars, and looked over several year-old "program"
cars, taking notes on optional equipment I could see.
That evening, I took this information to both the Edmund and Kelly
Web sites to determine what the cars were "actually" worth
according to the price guides.
A call to my bank provided interest rates on new and used-car loans.
With that, I was able to determine monthly payments for various
price levels by using the auto loan calculator at Edmund's Web site.
The Web site also let me know that GM was offering a low interest-rate
on GMAC financing that I might want to consider if I chose a new
car.
I printed out the Web site's pricing information on the new car
and used car I was considering; with this data in hand, and knowing
ahead of time the maximum amount of money I wanted to borrow, I
headed for the dealer.
The program car best met my family's needs, and with clipboard
in hand, I re-examined the car and added up the Web site's figures
for that make and model. The dealer's price was about $1,000 over
Edmund's "market price."
Negotiating the final price was easier with the "market price,"
and enabled me to justify my lower offer, which was accepted.
Was it worth the trouble?
Yes. Not only did I save several hundred dollars on the car I bought,
but I was better able to determine a fair price for my trade.
Even if I didn't save a penny, the Kelly Blue Book and Edmund's
Web sites at the least helped me make a more informed choice.
Visit them on the Web at www.kbb.com or www.edmund.com.
MSN REVAMPS. The Wall Street Journal's electronic edition
reports that the Microsoft Network will e revamping its content
soon.
The report Thursday said the company is abandoning its plans to
create television-style programming channels, and will instead create
information and service-oriented content.
Apparently, it was unable to ind an audience for its online entertainment
lineup, the report said.
The 2.3-million-subscriber, Web-based online service also will
make more of its content available free to other users on the World
Wide Web.
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