Power Book 100 - History

History

From 1990, John Sculley, then CEO of Apple, oversaw product development personally to ensure that Apple released new computers to market more quickly. His new strategy was to increase market share by lowering prices and releasing more "hit" products. This strategy contributed to the commercial success of the low-end Macintosh Classic and Macintosh LC, desktop computers released by Apple in 1990. Sculley wanted to replicate the success of these products with Apple's new PowerBook line.

Sculley began the project in 1990 and wanted the PowerBook to be released within one year. The project had three managers: John Medica, who managed engineering for the new laptop; Randy Battat, who was the vice president for product marketing; and Neil Selvin, who headed the marketing effort. In 1991, the two leaders in the laptop computer industry were Toshiba and Compaq, both of which had introduced models weighing less than 8 lb (3.63 kg). Medica, Battat, and Selvin deliberately designed the PowerBook to weigh less than its competitors.

Sculley allocated a $1 million marketing budget to the PowerBook product line, in contrast to the $25 million used to market the Macintosh Classic. Medica, Battat, and Selvin used most of the money to produce and air a television commercial that viewers would remember. Advertising agency Chiat/Day filmed retired Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar sitting uncomfortably in a small airline coach seat yet comfortably typing on his PowerBook. The ad caption read: "At least his hands are comfortable."

Apple unveiled the PowerBook 100 on October 21, 1991, at the Comdex computer expo in Las Vegas, with two other models, the PowerBook 140 and PowerBook 170. The advertisement and the product were both successful. Apple projected US sales of more than 200,000 PowerBooks in the first year, with peak demand in the first three months of release. By January 1992, Apple had sold more than 100,000 PowerBooks, by which time they were in short supply. Apple soon solved the supply problems, and the proceeds from PowerBook sales reached $1 billion in the first year after launch. Apple surpassed Toshiba and Compaq as the market leader in worldwide share of portable computer shipments. The PowerBook 100, 140, and 170 contributed greatly to Apple's financial success in 1992. At the end of the financial year, Apple announced its highest figures yet, $7.1 billion in revenues and an increase in global market share from 8% to 8.5%, the highest it had been in four years.

However, the initial popularity of the PowerBook 100 did not last. Sales decreased, and by December 1991 the 140 and 170 models had become more popular because customers were willing to pay more for a built-in floppy disk drive and second serial port, which the PowerBook 100 lacked. By August 10, 1992, Apple quietly dropped the PowerBook 100 from its price list but continued to sell existing stock through its own dealers and alternative discount consumer-oriented stores such as Price Club. In these stores, a 4MB RAM/40MB hard drive configuration with a floppy drive sold for less than $1,000 (more than $1,500 less than the similar 2MB/20MB configuration's original list price).

On September 17, 1992, Apple recalled 60,000 PowerBook 100s because of a potential safety problem. An electrical short, it was discovered, could melt a small hole in the casing, which occurred in three of the 60,000 notebooks manufactured between October and March 1991. On the day of the recall, Apple shares closed at $47, down $1.25, but some analysts discounted the recall's importance. In addition, the original power supplies had problems with insulation cracks that could cause a short in a fuse on the motherboard; and the computer was prone to cracks in the power adapter socket on the motherboard, which required a $400 replacement motherboard if the warranty had expired.