Shares in Apple Computer fell over 40% in after-hours trading
after the company warned that its fourth quarter earnings would be
“substantially below expectations due to slower than expected sales
in the month of September.“
Chief financial officer Fred Anderson said:
“Three factors contributed to our revenues
and earnings coming in below expectations… First, we experienced
lower than expected September sales due to a business slowdown in
all geographies. Second, our Education sales, which normally peak
during September, were lower than expected. And third, our Power
Mac G4 Cube is off to a slower than expected start, resulting in
revenues below expectations.”
CEO Steve Jobs added, “We’ve clearly hit a speedbump.”
The announcement came shortly before Paul Allen, who co-founded
Microsoft with Bill Gates, said he would be stepping down. Fellow
Microsoft director Richard Hackborn also announced his resignation
as a director. Allen, who is the world’s third richest man
according to Forbes magazine, is continuing with Microsoft as a
senior strategic advisor. He said he wants to spend less time
involved in the day-to-day running of the company.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with
the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with
the Macintosh. However, its most recent innovation, the Cube, has
been criticised by some as being over-priced for the technology
offered.
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