Apple—Just Says No to Intel

Apple Computer held its annual financial analysts meeting on Wednesday of this week, and the conference included several glimpses of the Cupertino, California companys future direction. A multipart QuickTime Webcast of the event is on the Web. The Webcast includes a Q&A in which Apple CEO Steve Jobs answers several questions about Apples future plans, how happy the company is with the PowerPC platform, and the companys forays into the world of music.

Jobs created a buzz in the press recently when he was photographed in front of a Dell computer demonstrating the Windows version of the Apple iTunes music store, causing speculation that Apples long-standing no-Wintel stance could be crumbling. “Hell froze over,” Jobs had quipped when demonstrating iTunes for Windows.

However, Jobs said that Apple has no current plans to switch processor families and port its new Panther operating system to Intel or other platforms. “Were quite happy with the PowerPC platform and with its roadmap,” he said. “I dont see a compelling need to switch, and we dont have any current plans to.”

Jobs was upbeat about the likelihood of system upgrades and refresh cycles picking up pace. “With the economy upticking were hoping to see people upgrading,” he said. “The lowest hanging fruit for us to aim for is our current customers, many of whom have had financial difficulties recently. I think well see a lot of them upgrading.” Apple officials also said at the meeting that the company now has 4.6 billion dollars in cash.

In other news from the meeting, Apple announced that it now has a seven percent share in the notebook market. Earlier this year, the companys message at the MacWorld trade show was that 2003 would be “the year of the notebook.” It was mentioned several times at the analysts meeting there is still more growth expected in the notebook market.

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