Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!snorkelwacker!usc!ucsd!ucbvax!UCONNVM.BITNET!SEWALL From: SEWALL@UCONNVM.BITNET (Murph Sewall) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Re: Apple and GS support Message-ID: <8910161158.aa01148@SMOKE.BRL.MIL> Date: 16 Oct 89 16:18:13 GMT References: Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: School of Business - U. of Connecticut Lines: 40 On Fri, 13 Oct 89 05:02:14 -0700 you said: > If I was a CEO of ANY company and one of my lines generated over >1 BILLION dollars, I'd support it a HELL of alot BETTER than Apple is.. >The GS is a nice computer, it's just that it could be alot better!! NOTE!! There is a VAST difference between sales revenue (the 'billion dollars') and profit! Not only that, the REAL test of the worth of a component of any organization's business is it's return on investment (PRESENT & POTENTIAL profit divided by invested capital) compared to the return on alternative uses of (limited) capital. The PRESENT profit on the Apple 2 line APPEARS attractive because Apple is "milking a 'cash cow'" (an ENTIRELY appropriate strategy for a MATURE product line with LIMITED future GROWTH prospects). Apple clearly feels the Macintosh line (a 'STAR' in stategic management jargon) has the greater POTENTIAL return on invested capital. Hence (given the assumptions really are appropriate -- a point on which I have insufficient data to judge), Apple's emphasis on the Macintosh is entirely sensible (which DOES NOT mean they shouldn't act to keep their 'cash cow' producing 'milk' indefinately). I read where John Louis Gassee denied (at AppleFest) a rumor that Apple would cease production on the IIgs by 1992. However, his denial was less than inspiring ("Gee, if that rumor were true, there'll be an awful lot of unhappy engineers at Apple"). There were an awful lot of unhappy engineers at Coleco when the company decided to drop the Adam -- c'est la vie. On the other hand, it's MUCH too early to tell what the financial prospects for the Apple 2 line will be in 1992 (my guess is that IF <--largest word in the English language> Video Technologies brings out a IIgs clone AND Apple doesn't have an aggessive response, THEN a LOT of Apple engineers will be seeking work with an Asian employer). Murph Sewall Vaporware? ---> [Gary Larson returns 1/1/90] Prof. of Marketing Sewall@UConnVM.BITNET Business School sewall%uconnvm.bitnet@cunyvm.cuny.edu [INTERNET] U of Connecticut {psuvax1 or mcvax }!UCONNVM.BITNET!SEWALL [UUCP] (203) 486-5246 [FAX] (203) 486-2489 [PHONE] 41 49N 72 15W [ICBM] The opposite of artificial intelligence is genuine stupidity! -+- I don't speak for my employer, though I frequently wish that I could (subject to change without notice; void where prohibited)