The Apple Death Knell Counter (ADKC) is a collection of death pronouncements for Apple throughout the years. Issued by journalists, analysts, pundits, business executives, and the like, there have been innumerable "Apple is dead," "Apple will soon be dead," and "Apple is dead if they don’t do this or that" statements issued by all sorts of people who have been proven time and again to be wrong.
The purpose of the Death Knell Counter is to collect these statements for posterity’s sake, so that as Apple continues to thrive and prosper, we can remember them. Below, you will find a list of updates, followed by our original posting, including our rules for inclusion in the Counter, and then the Death Knells themselves.
New entries have the "New!" sign in front of them.
New! – [5/1/2006 – Update: Writing for MacNewsWorld, Rob Enderle makes a record-breaking prediction of death for the Mac platform (no one has been wrong more often than Mr. Enderle — Congrats!), this time suggesting that Apple will voluntarily exit the computer business if it can’t double market share by 2008. He offers no support for this hypothesis, and we didn’t even bother to rebut it.]
It happens every few weeks: Someone new jumps on the bandwagon loudly proclaiming that Apple will soon be dead. It’s been happening since the early 1980s, and still Apple, and its doom sayers, keep chugging along. We decided that it would be interesting to collect these stories, prognostications, predictions, and premature eulogies in a sort of testimonial of buffoonery, and we are calling it The Apple Death Knell Counter.
We shall keep a running total of the number of times that Apple has been declared dead or dying, with links to each one (whenever possible), the date it was published, and the person who so blithely set upon the path of being utterly wrong. With luck, we’ll eventually get back to the primordial Death Knell, whose peals have rung on long past their normal life spans.
Our Criteria:
- We are looking for published predictions and statements of Apple’s demise from pundits, journalists, analysts, and editorialists. These statements can be in the form of quotes, especially from analysts, or entire pieces dedicated to Apple’s imminent death.
- Pieces where the author wishes, encourages, or hopes that Apple would change some aspect of its business are not eligible for listing, but pieces saying that Apple will shut its doors unless it changes some aspect of its business probably will be included. For instance: "Apple needs to move to x86 in order to increase market share," would not be a statement of doom. "Apple will be having a fire sale on office furniture to pay its bills in 6 months unless it makes the move to Intel now," is an outright prediction of death.
- Articles where Apple is referred to as "beleaguered" are not necessarily eligible, and in fact, the vast majority of such references are simply colorfully negative descriptions that do not qualify as an Apple Death Knell.
- We’ll make the decision on what is included in the list on a case by case basis, and the criteria may be refined as we go.
We ask you to send us information on any new, or old, death predictions, be it a link, or a scan from an old magazine, or other information. We’ll then add it to the counter, duly noted in chronological order, on this page. We will also be adding a Hall of Buffoonery for those with the most dead-Apple predictions.
Apple Death Knells – new articles added are denoted by "New!"
New! – 1/13/2007 – Apple Death Knell #52: Apple iPhone Will Fail in a Late, Defensive – Bloomberg, by MAtthew Lynn
Relevant Quote:
The iPhone is nothing more than a luxury bauble that will appeal to a few gadget freaks. In terms of its impact on the industry, the iPhone is less relevant. […] Apple will sell a few to its fans, but the iPhone won’t make a long-term mark on the industry. [Full Coverage by TMO]New! – 5/1/2006 – Apple Death Knell #51: Linux vs. Windows Vista vs. Leopard – MacNewsWorld, by Rob Enderle
Relevant Quote:
2008 will be a critical year for Apple, Microsoft, and the Linux contingent. If Apple can’t significantly expand its presence by then in the PC market it is likely going to be finished with this segment. Its likely path in that case will be to focus more aggressively on the consumer electronics market it currently dominates.
4/3/2006 – Apple Death Knell #50: Apple faces second attack of the clones – The Age, by Alan Kohler
Relevant Quote:
"Microsoft’s software will power the new generation of phone/music players, and the business of selling digital songs and TV shows will open up. Google will probably run the most popular online store, but there will be thousands.The iPod/iTunes system will move into a niche with Macintosh computers because Steve Jobs has again stuck with closed architecture and total control. This will happen quickly because mobile phones are being turned over about every year." [Full Coverage by TMO]
3/8/2006 – Apple Death Knell #49: Five Reasons Why There Will Be No Macs in 2010 – AppleMatters, by Chris Seibold
Relevant Quote:
"The Mac, and Apple, have been counted out more times than Gabby Jay. Unlike Super Punch Out’s resident tomato can, the Mac keeps getting up off the mat. Credit the people who love the platform, or OS X for the machine’s resilience, but don’t count on the Mac being there forever. The era of the all-in-one hardware and software solution has been gone for at least the last ten years, even though Apple hasn’t quite caught on yet. Here are five reasons why Apple will catch on and abandon Mac hardware by the start of the next decade." [Full Coverage by TMO]12/20/2005 – Apple Death Knell #48: 2006 could be year that Apple CEO Jobs falls off pedestal – USA Today, by Kevin Maney
Relevant Quote:
"Sometime in 2006, Steve Jobs will probably get hosed. That’s not so much a prediction as it is playing the odds. Nobody in America gets such a long ride on the oh-we-sooooo-adore-you bandwagon." [Full Coverage by TMO]9/20/2005 – Apple Death Knell #47: Windows Vista: The Final Countdown Begins – TechNewsWorld, by Rob Enderle
Relevant Quote:
"If Apple and the Linux community can’t make the hard decisions needed to address this competitive threat the negative impact on both of them will cover a broad range and will be unavoidable."[And]
"This suggests that 2006, at least after August, will be great time for buyers and sellers of PC hardware and that has to be a good thing for everyone — except Apple." [Full Coverage by TMO]
5/112005 – Apple Death Knell #46: Why Apple and folly go hand-in-glove – The Age, commentary by Graeme Philipson
Relevant Quote:
In the past few years the iPod and continued innovation of the Macintosh architecture have ensured Apple’s survival where many – myself included – had predicted its demise. But if it continues its own march of folly, that demise will be inevitable. [Full Coverage by TMO]3/14/2005 – Apple Death Knell #45: Death Knell #44: Apple Will Dump Macs in Five Years – TechNewsWorld, commentary by Rob Enderle
Relevant Quote:
The consensus appears to be that within the next five years Apple will either move to a new processor or exit the PC business. That will not be a fun choice, but at least Steve Jobs will be able to play really cool Xbox games to take his mind off of it. [Full Coverage by TMO]12/30/2004 – Apple Death Knell #44: 12 Big Surprises for 2005 – TheStreet.com, commentary by John D. Markman
Relevant Quote:
Apple Computer releases two new handheld devices in an attempt to follow up its iPod mega-hit, but they fail to gain traction. iPods begin stacking up at electronics stores when it is discovered that, after a Christmas buying frenzy, there are now 2.7 iPods for every American over the age of 6. Apple turns to Philips Electronics for a bailout and is sold to the Netherlands-based consumer electronics giant for $80 a share. [Full Coverage by TMO]9/15/2004 – Apple Death Knell #43: Apple Must Change, Or Die – Connected Home Magazine, commentary by Paul Thurrott
Relevant Quote:
Apple’s short-term success is very real and quite admirable, but the company’s inability to see coming trends in video, subscription content, and interoperability suggests that Apple is repeating the mistakes of the past. In the 1980s, the Mac held an early lead over the PC but was quickly buried after the industry standardized on a common Microsoft technology. Today, that series of events is repeating itself, and online music services — and to a greater degree, the digital delivery of all media types — is very much at a nascent stage. If Apple doesn’t change its ways, the company simply won’t survive. [Full Coverage by TMO]9/02/2004 – Apple’s new iMac takes rear seat – CBS Marketwatch, commentary by John C. Dvorak
Relevant Quote:
Perhaps if the company took the plunge and followed the path of Sony with branded cameras, headphones, amplifiers and home theaters in a box it would be more interesting. But milking this one pricey and faddish device is going to ruin the company if it is going to be the center of attention, which it now seems to be. [Emphasis added] [Full Coverage by TMO]5/25/2004 – Short takes: Week of 24 May – ITnews, commentary by Paul Thurrott
Relevant Quote:
And speaking of Apple Computer, everyone’s favourite little OS imitator — excuse me, innovator — this week made an interesting patent bid that could have ramifications for Longhorn. Apple wants a patent for applying transparency to "information-bearing windows whose contents remain unchanged for a predetermined period of time." In other words, these unused windows fade away over time unless they’re activated. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Longhorn will feature translucent windows and various window-transparency effects, so this patent attempt could possibly affect Longhorn. Or not. Patent applications take years to culminate, and in the end Apple might not even be awarded a patent. More to the point, by the time Longhorn ships, Apple likely will have discontinued active computer OS development, anyway, so that the company can concentrate on the consumer-electronics market. [Full Coverage by TMO]5/13/2004 – Mac Death Match, Round Five: Chaffin vs. Enderle – MacNewsWorld, commentary by Rob Enderle
Relevant Quote:
Apple has about 24 months to get its act together and position itself for the post-Longhorn world of Linux and Windows. If it doesn’t offer solutions that will play on those platforms the way iTunes currently does on Windows, it will probably become a footnote by the end of the decade. [Full Coverage by TMO]3/17/2004 – Why iPod can’t save Apple – Money Magazine, by Stephen Gandel
Relevant Quote: But behind the hype and buzz surrounding the iPod and Jobs, there are problems stewing at Apple. Apple sold just over 3 million computers in its last fiscal year, which ended in September — 900,000 less than it sold in fiscal 1996, the year before Jobs returned. […] Meanwhile, Apple’s share of the worldwide personal-computer market has shrunk to 2 percent from 3.2 percent five years ago. […] It’s unclear what Jobs can do or plans to do to turn around Apple’s fortunes — he refused to talk to MONEY about its future. [Full Coverage by TMO]3/05/2004 – How will Apple Grow? (archive link) – Paul Thurrott’s Internet Nexus, by Paul Thurrott
Relevant Quote: There’s no debate (indeed, Apple executives are still using the bogus 5 percent figure). Apple’s market share is 1.88 percent today, and as your own math showed you, it will be 1.7 percent or lower in 2004. Why is this so hard for Mac advocates to understand? The Mac market is ending. Let’s hope Apple has broader consumer electronics plans than just the iPod. [Full Coverage by TMO]11/24/2003 – The Death of Sun, Apple and Novell – TechNewsWorld, by Rob Enderle Reporting On Panel At Comdex
Relevant Quote: I also asked which companies would be dead. The panel agreed that it would be Apple, Sun and Novell. The panel also agreed that if it didn’t run on the x86 architecture, it was likely gone. What was really interesting was that almost everyone I spoke with after this panel said that this x86 prediction was like predicting that the sun would rise in the morning — in other words, that it was a given. Most participants felt that the future world of technology would be solidly based on standards and that anyone not using standards would be gone. [Full Coverage by TMO]11/19/2003 – Apple Computer Could Run Out Of Steam – Forbes, comments by Banc of America Securities analyst
Relevant Quote: Apple Computer "runs the risk of generating significant refresh sales to its installed base for the next couple of quarters, and then running out of steam once sales to the installed base are satisfied." The research firm said, "We don’t think there is any more creative company in the world than Apple." It also added that Apple’s fundamentals are "positive." But Banc of America initiated coverage of Apple at "neutral," saying it was concerned that G5 refresh sales will slow, iTunes won’t contribute to the bottom line and iPod is not "the only game in town anymore." [Full Coverage by TMO]11/17/2003 – How Linux And The Mac Can Compete Against Windows "Longhorn" (Enderle) – InternetWeek, by Rob Enderle
Relevant Quote: Apple will have some serious problems because the Apple hardware platform will not be able to create customer demand comparable to what Linux could do. To generate that kind of demand, Apple will need to either move to Intel, or get significant help from its hardware partner, IBM. IBM won’t help broadly unless both the IBM PC business unit and IBM Microelectronics cooperate, and the PC company may not want to undercut its own sales of PC-based systems and they are strategically tied to Linux and Microsoft today. [Full Coverage by TMO]11/07/2003 – Your 99c belong to the RIAA – Steve Jobs – The Register, by Andrew Orlowski
Relevant Quote: While much of the received wisdom in both the music industries and technology industries see compulsory licenses in one form or another as inevitable, both Apple and RIAA are agreed on the short-term solution. One where the ancient copyright rules spin the money back to the pigopolists, and some sucker, like Apple, is left holding a brand of dubious (and soon to be extinct) value. [Emphasis added] [Full Coverage by TMO]10/06/2003 – Apple, Linux and BSD: The ‘Other’ Platforms – TechNewsWorld, by Rob Enderle
Relevant Quote: "The biggest long-term problem with moving to an Apple platform is that the company is in decline, which means you might have to migrate again at some point to another platform. Despite this, the Mac is a solid platform and looks damn good on a desktop." [Full Coverage by TMO]6/12/2003 – Apple Hits a High, but Fails to Convince Big Investors – TheStreet.com, by K.C. Swanson, Comments by unnamed fund manager
Relevant Quote: "Apple clearly has great customer loyalty. But they just can’t compete with Microsoft and Intel," says one fund manager who asked to remain anonymous, calling Apple "a classic example" of a company on the losing end of long-term competitive pressure. "It’s been a value stock for a long time. I think we made the decision a long time back on sticking with winners," says the manager. [Full Coverage by TMO]6/12/2003 – Mac G5: Too Little, Too Late – NewsFactor, by James Maguire
Relevant Quote: If the rumor was, instead of a hot G5, that Apple had developed a new manufacturing process that enabled it to compete price-wise with Windows, that would be the news Apple needs.Looking at the future of the PC market, Apple’s premium pricing structure becomes ever more outdated. A few years downstream, Linux desktops will force Windows to get cheaper. At that point even Windows boxes, seriously cheaper than Apple, will be in the "too expensive" category. [Commentary by TMO]
5/12/2003 – Carving up Apple – TheDeal.com, by Joshua Jaffe
Relevant Quote: Many close observers of the legendary Silicon Valley company believe shareholders shouldn’t be selling the stock. They should be buying it, they say, in order to press the 48-year-old Jobs to split Apple into two separate companies built around its hardware and software lines of businesses, or get new management that will. "Given what their valuation currently is, I think this is something they will eventually have to do," argues Rob Enderle, a research fellow at Giga, a research unit of Santa Clara, Calif.-based Forrester Research Inc. "They have to dig themselves out of the going-out-of-business cycle they are currently in.5/10/2003 – Apple’s Exit Strategy – USS Clueless Blog, by Steven Den Beste
Relevant Quote: If those things are true, it doesn’t mean instant death. It’s more like a lingering debilitating illness, leading to slow decline over a period of years. It’s not so much an urgent crisis as it is a long term certain death sentence. Suppose that Jobs knows this. We don’t know how much IBM expects to charge Apple for the 970, but Jobs certainly must know at least in general terms. If so, then if Jobs himself knows that the Mac is doomed, it means that Jobs primary duty to his stockholders is to find another business to move Apple into, during the breathing space available while the computer business slowly withers away.5/8/2003 – Do Not Read This Column! – MacNet, by John Manzione
Relevant Quote:
Is Apple doomed to fail? If I had to bet on it I would say they absolutely are. No one at Apple has the guts to correct the mistakes of Steve Jobs. Apple is a toy for Steve, and a way to massage his ego. Right now no PC company makes hardware that looks as good as Macs, and no OS looks as good as OS X. That can, and will, change very soon. The PC world has gotten the message, and they’ll soon drive the final nail into the Apple coffin.1/23/2003 – Apple’s seeds choked by weeds – WorldNetDaily, by Russ McGuire
Relevant Quote: Notebook computers, operating systems, monitors, servers, presentation software… I’m sorry, these are commodities that are already widely adopted. Find a way to exit these businesses – preferably by spinning out or selling to a company that can continue to support die-hard Macintosh fans who are married to the ways that the Mac OS blows away Windows.Instead, go searching for the next insanely great product. What’s the next item that has technology that’s ready, a market environment that’s ripe, but which lacks the incredible design that can both make it work easily and well, but also make people want it? That’s what Apple should be all about. Capturing the margins while the product is hot. Exiting the product line when it commoditizes.
1/6/2003 – What’s Ahead for 2003? – MSNBC, by Michael Rogers
Relevant Quote: There are always certain stories on the horizon where I expect some plot turns, and this week I’ll suggest a few prospects for the 2003 watch-list. […] Apple Gets Married: There are only so many redesigns of the iMac left for Cupertino, and being the Bang and Olufsen of computers doesn’t look like a longtime niche. The company is moving toward the consumer electronics space, in everything from digital media boxes to handheld players — but that is even more vicious and margin-thin territory than the PC biz. Even for Steve Jobs, going up against Sony has to look a bit scary. So does Apple license their cool media software for others to build into devices? The one time they tried licensing, Apple execs pulled the plug quickly. The elegant fusion of hardware and software is the DNA of Apple; seeing the Apple logo come up on the screen of some tinny consumer junk seems like sacrilege. Apple needs a long-term partnership, or even an outright sale, to someone who really knows how to play the game. My candidate: Canon. Jobs has a long-term relationship with the company (they helped him both get into and out of his NeXT computer venture). And check out those new ads with an Apple on one page and a Canon camera on the other: when you give that much expensive space to someone they better be more than just a friend.12/19/2002 – IDC Says Linux Will Pass Mac OS Market Share By 2005, Possibly End Of 2003 – Article by TMO, Comments by IDC analyst Dan Kusnetzky
Relevant Quote: "Certainly by…2005, possibly by the end of 2003, Linux will pass Mac OS as the No. 2 operating environment," said IDC analyst Dan Kusnetzky.11/05/2002 – Crunch Time for Apple – osOpinion, by James Maguire
Relevant Quote: So, the challenge Apple faces is a tough one. It has to offer Macs at prices comparable with Windows, at speeds as fast as those of Windows-based PCs, with complete Windows compatibility. If it can’t do that, the brand will simply fade away, a quarter of a percentage point at a time. I’ll miss it.10/28/2002 – IT Trends 2003: Desktop and Mobile PCs [PDF – Link Corrected] – Giga Information Group, by Rob Enderle
Relevant Quote: Apple is being driven out of every segment but consumer: Companies are driving out non-standard hardware and both increasingly view Linux as a better alternative platform and UNIX as a platform they don’t want to resurge on the desktop. The lack of management tools, pull back of key vendors like Quark and an anticipated drop in market share below 2 percent in 2003 are obsolescing this platform. Apple’s continued technical disadvantage against Intel is expected to force them to adopt x86 technology by the end of 2003. [Commentary by TMO]10/18/2002 – Reflections from the Microprocessor Forum – Geek.com, by Sander Olson
Relevant Quote: Apple is in long-term decline. Even if Apple adopts the IBM 970, no one at the MPF expressed any confidence in Apple’s future. The near consensus was that Apple was in a long term, perhaps terminal, decline, and that the 970 would not be enough to save it. Every year more Macintosh users convert to Windows, and this trend will continue unless Apple comes out with another "insanely great" product.6/17/2002 – E-Mac, i-Mac, No Mac – PC Magazine, by John C. Dvorak
Relevant Quote: [This is more about the Mac than Apple, but follows Mr. Dvorak’s negative coverage of Apple.] Isn’t it about time the Macintosh was simply discontinued — put down like an old dog? Why, exactly, does Apple maintain this line of machines instead of starting fresh or at least introducing something new with fresh legs. The Mac has become the AS/400 of desktop computing, except for the fact that it’s prettier. Of course, if Apple never moves forward, what happens to the copycat Windows platform? [Commentary by TMO]2002 – Apple’s demise – Web site dedicated to tracking Apple’s downfall, by Paul Hsieh
Relevant Quote: Who says Apple is Doomed? I DO!10/25/2001 – Apple’s Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel – TheStreet.com, by Arne Alsin
Relevant Quote: It’s too bad for Apple that the ending to this chapter in the PC story has already been written. The company had the ultimate first-mover advantage many years ago with an array of better products, a vastly superior operating system and even the best commercials! Apple’s story now is fodder for business historians — don’t make it fodder for your portfolio. [Commentary by TMO]9/5/2001 – Apple Core of Ailing PC Sector – Bear Argument – TheMotleyFool, by Paul Larson
Relevant Quote: So why am I here relaying my bearish thoughts on Apple yet again? Because, basically, nothing has changed over the last nine months. That is, beyond Apple seeing greatly decreased sales while ringing up copious losses. Moreover, the company’s competitive positioning still has the company as nothing more than a niche player fighting for its survival in the mean world of PCs. [See also the accompanying Bull Argument by Rick Aristotle Munarriz that was published with this piece, as well as commentary from TMO.]5/21/2001 – Commentary: Sorry, Steve: Here’s Why Apple Stores Won’t Work – BusinessWeek, Cliff Edwards
Relevant Quote: [There’s the title, plus the following:]The way Jobs sees it, the stores look to be a sure thing. But even if they attain a measure of success, few outsiders think new stores, no matter how well-conceived, will get Apple back on the hot-growth path. Jobs’s focus on selling just a few consumer Macs has helped boost profits, but it is keeping Apple from exploring potential new markets. And his perfectionist attention to aesthetics has resulted in beautiful but pricey products with limited appeal outside the faithful: Apple’s market share is a measly 2.8%. "Apple’s problem is it still believes the way to grow is serving caviar in a world that seems pretty content with cheese and crackers," gripes former Chief Financial Officer Joseph Graziano.
5/21/2001 – Commentary: Sorry, Steve: Here’s Why Apple Stores Won’t Work – BusinessWeek, Cliff Edwards; Death Knell by David Goldstein quoted in article
Relevant Quote: "I give them two years before they’re turning out the lights on a very painful and expensive mistake." David Goldstein was at this time the president of Channel Marketing Corp, and research and analysis company covering the retail sector. [As of this writing, it’s been more than two and a half years, and the Apple Stores are doing well. – Editor]4/16/2001 – Q&A: The Tech Slump Doesn’t Scare Michael Dell – Interview with Michael Dell
Relevant Quote: Q: What is the future of Apple Computer?
A: Silicon Graphics.Q: That bad?
A: Maybe it’s a little bit different. But if you look at proprietary computer companies, whether it’s Digital or Silicon Graphics (SGI ) or Apple (AAPL ), I think the fates are all relatively similar. We know how the movie ends. It’s just a question of what happens in the middle. Apple has a very little customer base. If you look at the economics, it has been extremely hard for Apple to get a return on its R&D with a shrinking volume base. It’s not to say that Apple’s products aren’t innovative or cool, but the economic factors here are so overwhelming, it’s very hard for them to swim against that tide. [Commentary from TMO.]1/5/2001 – Technology’s walking dead – ZDNet, by Michael Kanellos (Though the bio is about Paul Somerson, under whose name this piece appears to have been originally published)
Relevant Quote: [Article about tech predictions] 2004: Apple
Watch for the big fire sale. Pretty designs and overpriced blue plastic can only get you so far. [Commentary from TMO.]12/11/2000 – Why Apple Is Losing Its Appeal Again – BusinessWeek, by Sam Jaffe
Relevant Quote: Investors may be asking themselves what Apple can do to revive its fortunes. The likely answer, unfortunately, is that Steve Jobs has no white rabbits left in his hat. Apple appears to be facing a dead end in its business growth, the victim of mismanagement and unmitigated hubris. Apple lovers are a loyal bunch, and they’ll probably stick with the company. But Jobs’s dream of becoming the world’s biggest computer-maker will likely remain just that — a dream. [Commentary by TMO]10/5/2000 – Apple R.I.P. – Forbes, by Michael S. Malone
Relevant Quote: Steve Jobs can’t run companies, but he has proven that he is a genius at motivating teams of people to produce extraordinary products. In fact, he may be the greatest project team leader in the history of high tech. That is no small achievement. But it does not translate to being the CEO of a giant corporation. Jobs failed the first time running Apple, failed at Next and only succeeded at Pixar because the company worked around him. He succeeded in the short term during this, his second, Apple tenure because he ran the whole company as a product team. That only works so long. Why is he a poor CEO? Because he’s mercurial, insufficiently engaged by the more boring (but crucial) operations like distribution and, ultimately, because he’s a pretty nasty piece of work. In the best of all scenarios, Jobs would hire a competent CEO and focus on product development, but his ego would soon lead him to undermine his replacement. Steve Jobs is Apple’s Alcibiades: the company can’t live without him, or with him.10/5/1998 – OH, DO I LOVE MY iMAC – BusinessWeek, by Peter Burrows (Negative Comments from then Oppenheimer analyst James Poyner)
Relevant Quote: How will iMac fare once the novelty fades? ”This computer is a fashion statement right now, but those things wear off,” says Oppenheimer Securities analyst James D. Poyner. ”If Apple intends to sell lots of machines based on how they look, that’s a pretty tenuous story.” The iMac has to hold its own in a market of sub-$1,000 (and falling) PCs. And Korean-based E-Machines has announced plans to sell an iMac look-alike for less than $600, say analysts.10/6/1997 – Sybase’s Chief Exec Says Microsoft Faces "Crossroads Crisis" – TechWeb, by Steve Burke (Negative Comments from Dell CEO Michael Dell)
Relevant Quote: Faced with a similar question on what he would do if he were acting chief executive Steve Jobs, Dell chief executive Michael Dell said, "I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders."9/5/1997 – Rotten To The Core – Webintosh (now The Mac Observer), by Bryan Chaffin
Relevant Quote: I am interested in starting a shareholder drive to give Joel Kocher the position of President/CEO of Apple. That might be a stretch, but wouldn’t it be fun? With Apple’s right to hire Power employees, I could swiftly envision an Apple that is better than either Power or Apple were in the past!! Mr. Kocher, are you interested? In the meanwhile, Power Computing will be selling Mac OS systems for another three months. I am intending to buy enough systems from Power to last my company until Rhapsody is released. At least then I can buy an Intel system that will run a good OS. I love the Mac, I look forward to Rhapdosy, I despise Apple. Mr. Jobs, go back to Pixar and make movies, I think you have done enough to "save" Apple.6/30/1997 – Apple Abandoned By Jobs, Ad Agency – Tabloid, Author unknown
Relevant Quote: n Apple spokesperson acknowledged that a block of 1.5 million shares had been sold on Thursday but would not confirm that the sale involved Jobs. But the California Technology Stock Letter confirmed that the shares belonged to Jobs, according to the Newsbytes News Network. Jobs’ sell-off of stock at rock-bottom prices is a clear indication that even the Apple co-founder — who recently returned to the fold as uber-consultant to floundering Apple CEO Gil Amelio — thinks the company is a dead fish. [Thanks to an anonymous Observer for the link.]6/1997 – 101 Ways to Save Apple – Wired Magazine, Death Knell by Milo Medin, then president of @Home t
Relevant Quote: I’m a Mac lover, but last year I switched over completely to Windoze because Apple couldn’t build a reasonable laptop. I really want it to succeed, but I think the company’s finished. Software vendors aren’t turning out enough code to keep the Mac as a really good platform, even for family and school stuff. This whole NeXT decision seems to be a waste of time. It should have been sold to HP for $35 per share a year and a half ago. Maybe if Apple caves in, Windows will get so much market share that the Department of Justice will intervene and break up Microsoft. I think Window’s competition is really the NC- and WebTV-type box. Which is truly sad.6/1997 – 101 Ways to Save Apple [Link Corrected] – Wired Magazine, Death Knell by Nathan Myhrvold, then chief technology officer at Microsoft
Relevant Quote: "The NeXT purchase is too little too late. The Apple of the past was an innovative company that used software and hardware technology together to redefine the way people experienced computing. That Apple is already dead. Very adroit moves might be able to save the brand name. A company with the letters A-P-P-L-E in its name might survive, but it won’t be the Apple of yore."1997 – Surrender To Win – The Writeside Review (Specific author not known)
Relevant Quote: [We love the Mac, blah blah blah…] But we have had enough. Apple cannot continue on its present course and expect to survive. Apple and (by default) the Mac are in a downward spiral that, unless reversed soon, will prove fatal. (Don’t let the early, limited success of the Mac clone market mislead you—most of this growth has come at Apple’s expense. And, contrary to popular opinion, we do not believe the Macintosh can survive without Apple.) The popular press, the corporate marketplace and the public at large all believe Apple is dying, or dead.2/6/1997 – The Untold Story of Apple’s Demise – Bug Net, by Bruce Brown
Relevant Quote: Now that the Apple Macintosh is disappearing as a mass market product (it did not even make the top five in US sales during the last quarter of 1996), this soap opera will mercifully fade from the headlines. But the lessons remain, and bare heading: inept, amateurish management can ruin the best product and brightest company.2/5/1996 – Apple of Sun’s Eyes – Time Magazine, by Stewart Alsop
Relevant Quote: One day Apple was a major technology company with assets to make any self-respecting techno-conglomerate salivate. The next day Apple was a chaotic mess without a strategic vision and certainly no future. [Article found through David Pogue’s column "The Desktop Critic: Reality Check 2000" in Macworld Magazine]1/25/1996 – A Rotten Apple and A Rising Sun [Article No Longer Hosted]- Article by Timothy Szykula, Death Knell uttered by Stan Dolberg of Forester Research
Relevant Quote: These facts were summed up by Stan Dolberg of Forrester Research who said, "whether they stand alone or are acquired, Apple as we know it, is cooked." [Article found through David Pogue’s column "The Desktop Critic: Reality Check 2000" in Macworld Magazine, where the quote still resides.]4/20/1995 – Interview With Steve Jobs – Interview by Daniel Morrow, Death Knell by Steve Jobs (see our comments in the introduction above)
Relevant Quote: What that cost them was the future. What they should have been doing was making reasonable profits and going for market share, which was what we always tried to do. Macintosh would have had a thirty- three percent market share right now, maybe even higher, maybe it would have even been Microsoft but we’ll never know. Now its got a single digit market share and falling. There’s no way to ever get that moment in time back. The Macintosh will die in another few years and its really sad. The problem is this: no one at Apple has a clue as to how to create the next Macintosh because no one running any part of Apple was there when the Macintosh was made–or any other product at Apple. They’ve just been living off that one thing now for over a decade and the last attempt was the Newton and you know what happened to that. It’s kind of tragic, but as unemotionally as I can be, that’s what’s happening. Unless somebody pulls a rabbit out of a hat, companies tend to have long glide slopes because of the installed bases. But Apple is just gliding down this slope and they’re loosing market share every year. Things start to spiral down once you get under a certain threshold. And when developers no longer write applications for your computer, that’s when it really starts to fall apart.