From: Brian Pearce (bpearce_at_cloud9.net)
Date: Thu Dec 11 2003 - 22:09:39 PST
> Basically, it wasn't affordable enough to move the units. Part of its
> 'failure' and subsequent discontinuation was the fact that it wasn't
> going to be another blockbuster hit product like the iMac.
I don't know about that. I think it was a terrific product; just badly
positioned in the overall product line, where it needed to be more
clearly set apart from other models. It was a "consumer" model, but
priced too closely to (and higher than) the low-end "professional"
model, and only *slightly* faster. And LCD screens were still much more
expensive back in the day, so a stylish desktop companion to the Cube
would have required an even more substantial investment.
Add to that, Apple had had so much success in a consumer computer with
the iMac (both in price and in features), that the Cube, also part of
the "consumer" line, was often unfairly compared to it.
But I think there was more to the discontinuation than just the failure
to sell in blockbuster iMac numbers; Apple took an enormous loss in 1Q
2001 after overestimating sales of the Cube (among other reasons), the
company admitted to selling only a *third* as many as expected, and
that's a huge load of parts and inventory to have to carry. Apple's
consumer computers traditionally have the lowest margins, and I think
after one revision and two or three price cuts, and no real change in
sales, Apple could see that the Cube would never really succeed in its'
current form. But I think the lessons learned from the Cube led
directly to the more successful LCD iMac line.
Like most of these "list" features, there's usually a much more
complicated story than the quick one- or two-line hits can tell. (I
still think criticizing the Cube for its' lack of expandability is
pointless; there were plenty of alternatives for people who needed that
functionality.)
BRIAN/bpearce_at_cloud9.net
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