US Report: iMac comes out swinging
Published: 11 Aug 1998 15:31 BST
Schiller said that Apple's announcement Monday of 460 new Mac products since the May 6 iMac introduction and of 150,000 orders for the device represent the first in a week-long series of marketing moves intended to pump up public awareness of the Aug. 15 launch. While Schiller declined to specify the rest of the week's agenda, he said it will include extensive radio advertisements and in-store promotions among major Mac resellers. "Radio has done very, very well for us," he said.
In addition, Schiller said, users can expect new iMac TV spots and promotional campaigns through the end of the year. "This will be a sustained launch that lasts all the way through the holidays," he said. "We have a number of activities to build up excitement and momentum" in the consumer channel. Schiller said this momentum will include a steady supply of Universal Serial Bus peripherals. "We're doing the best job of any new technology I've ever seen Apple do," he said, comparing the USB rollout with earlier adoption of such standards as PCI. "We have 35 [USB] products now, and dozens and dozens are on the way in the very near future."
Schiller credited the iMac with the majority of the 460 new Mac titles that have been announced since interim Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the device. "I hope this trend toward the consumer business continues," he said, since recouping that market will be essential if Apple is to reclaim market share it lost in recent years, primarily from the consumer channel.
According to Schiller, the company's iMac strategy will avoid mistakes of earlier Apple consumer efforts, most recently with its Performa line. "The Performa was not the best attempt for this product category," he said. "The beige minitower looked too much like a PC. It wasn't bold or dramatic enough" to capture the imagination of consumers.
Furthermore, the Performa brand represented "a hodge-podge of stuff, and it never got critical mass. It didn't do badly for Apple, but it was a half-hearted attempt." By contrast, the iMac was designed from the ground up as a consumer product, Schiller said. The striking industrial design represents the greater independence of each of Apple's four primary product categories. "We're heading into some bold new design territory," he said. While earlier Mac design schemes encompassed multiple product categories, Schiller said forthcoming products will reflect "more creative freedom that lets us take designs to their logical place."
As an example of an innovative design for the professional market, Schiller cited the Apple Studio Display, which shares the iMac's translucence and rounded corners but draws on a different colour scheme. "We'll be using new materials, new shapes and colours and extending them to where they best fit," he said.
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