[ean649]

Apple Computer Inc. Chairman Gil Amelio swallowed hard as he laid out his plan to save the beleaguered computer giant - a plan featuring fewer products and a considerably smaller workforce.

The much-anticipated announcement Friday from Amelio and other top Apple officials began with the news of a 31 percent cut in the company's work force: 4,100 workers - 2,700 full-time employees and 1,400 contract workers - will lose theirjobs.

"It's very painful for us to be laying off people who have been working very hard to bring Apple back to health," Amelio told reporters and analysts in a telephoneconference.

But, he said, the only way to return the company to profitability was to slim it down from its present 13,400 employees and to cut its line of software and computermodels.

"I am optimistic about the future," Ameliosaid.

"These actions put us back on the road tohealth."

Apple executives would not say how many Bay Area jobs would be cut, though marketing chief Guerrino DeLuca said the company's Sacramento manufacturing plant would bespared.

About 55 percent of the work force cuts will be U.S. workers; the remainder will be foreign workers, officials said. The layoffs will be completed by the end of theyear.

Once notified, laid-off workers can stay on the job for 60 days, as is stipulated by law. Severance packages will vary by position and seniority, officialssaid.

Salesslump
Apple has lost almost $1 billion over the last five quarters amid slumping sales and consumer concerns about the company's new operating system. Apple's share of the PC market dropped to 5.2 percent last year from 7.9 percent in1995.

The restructuring plan - Amelio's second attempt to jump-start profits since taking over 13 months ago - will cost Apple $155 million this quarter, but is expected to cut annual expenses by $500 million, officialssaid.

Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson would not predict what the losses for the current quarter could be, but analysts expect the company to lose as much as $175 million. Officials hope to show a profit in the fourthquarter.

Employees at Apple's Cupertino headquarters were remarkably calm as news of the layoffsspread.

Strong jobmarket
Glenn Webb, a contract employee who started eight months ago and does automated performance testing, said the layoffs come at a time when the job market for high-tech workers isstrong.

"At least they can just get it over with and let the cut people get back to work and move on," said Webb, as he and Chris McNary, another contract employee, took a break outside the headquartersoffice.

"The cuts are happening globally, not just here," said McNary, who works with networkingapplications.

"I'm still a big Apple fan," Webb said, adding he would continue to support the company even it he got laid off. He said he thinks the company was honing in on "what sells and what doesn't sell." Apple officials announced they would cut funding for the company's Open Doc component software technology as well as Cyberdog, Open Transport, Game Sprockets, and Mac OS development tools. The company also plans to drop its video conferencing program and AIX serversoftware.

The company said it would reduce the number of models of Macintosh computers and PowerBook laptops itproduces.

Anderson said the company would also trim research and development spending to 5 percent of the company's budget and will try to integrate technologies developed by other companies rather than developing them all in-house.

Apple still plans to ship its next-generation operating system, code-named Rhapsody, next year. But the company will reduce the number of new releases of the program beginning next year from two to one peryear.

Apple officials rejected speculation that they would sell the division that produces Newton, a hand-held computer, which has been losing money but enjoys a cult-likefollowing.

"One of the very few parts of the company that is not touched by the layoffs is Newton," DeLucasaid.

Despite the array of cuts, the plan disappointed some analysts, who said it still isn't aggressive enough and doesn't address the questions of how the company will boostsales.

"They're still in the same dilemma," said analyst Eugene Glazer of Dean Witter Reynolds. "It's a niche company with declining marketshare."

Others said Apple was finally focusing on areas of the business where they can still beprofitable.

"It's very clear that they realized this is a very difficult time and that the only way they are going to get back to profitability is to cut costs and focus on core competencies," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies Research International.<

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[ean649]

Apple layoffs: Painful but necessary
Zachary Coile, OF THE EXAMINER STAFF
Published 4:00am, Saturday, March 15, 1997


Apple Computer Inc. Chairman Gil Amelio swallowed hard as he laid out his plan to save the beleaguered computer giant - a plan featuring fewer products and a considerably smaller workforce.

The much-anticipated announcement Friday from Amelio and other top Apple officials began with the news of a 31 percent cut in the company's work force: 4,100 workers - 2,700 full-time employees and 1,400 contract workers - will lose theirjobs.

"It's very painful for us to be laying off people who have been working very hard to bring Apple back to health," Amelio told reporters and analysts in a telephoneconference.

But, he said, the only way to return the company to profitability was to slim it down from its present 13,400 employees and to cut its line of software and computermodels.

"I am optimistic about the future," Ameliosaid.

"These actions put us back on the road tohealth."

Apple executives would not say how many Bay Area jobs would be cut, though marketing chief Guerrino DeLuca said the company's Sacramento manufacturing plant would bespared.

About 55 percent of the work force cuts will be U.S. workers; the remainder will be foreign workers, officials said. The layoffs will be completed by the end of theyear.

Once notified, laid-off workers can stay on the job for 60 days, as is stipulated by law. Severance packages will vary by position and seniority, officialssaid.

Salesslump
Apple has lost almost $1 billion over the last five quarters amid slumping sales and consumer concerns about the company's new operating system. Apple's share of the PC market dropped to 5.2 percent last year from 7.9 percent in1995.

The restructuring plan - Amelio's second attempt to jump-start profits since taking over 13 months ago - will cost Apple $155 million this quarter, but is expected to cut annual expenses by $500 million, officialssaid.

Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson would not predict what the losses for the current quarter could be, but analysts expect the company to lose as much as $175 million. Officials hope to show a profit in the fourthquarter.

Employees at Apple's Cupertino headquarters were remarkably calm as news of the layoffsspread.

Strong jobmarket
Glenn Webb, a contract employee who started eight months ago and does automated performance testing, said the layoffs come at a time when the job market for high-tech workers isstrong.

"At least they can just get it over with and let the cut people get back to work and move on," said Webb, as he and Chris McNary, another contract employee, took a break outside the headquartersoffice.

"The cuts are happening globally, not just here," said McNary, who works with networkingapplications.

"I'm still a big Apple fan," Webb said, adding he would continue to support the company even it he got laid off. He said he thinks the company was honing in on "what sells and what doesn't sell." Apple officials announced they would cut funding for the company's Open Doc component software technology as well as Cyberdog, Open Transport, Game Sprockets, and Mac OS development tools. The company also plans to drop its video conferencing program and AIX serversoftware.

The company said it would reduce the number of models of Macintosh computers and PowerBook laptops itproduces.

Anderson said the company would also trim research and development spending to 5 percent of the company's budget and will try to integrate technologies developed by other companies rather than developing them all in-house.

Apple still plans to ship its next-generation operating system, code-named Rhapsody, next year. But the company will reduce the number of new releases of the program beginning next year from two to one peryear.

Apple officials rejected speculation that they would sell the division that produces Newton, a hand-held computer, which has been losing money but enjoys a cult-likefollowing.

"One of the very few parts of the company that is not touched by the layoffs is Newton," DeLucasaid.

Despite the array of cuts, the plan disappointed some analysts, who said it still isn't aggressive enough and doesn't address the questions of how the company will boostsales.

"They're still in the same dilemma," said analyst Eugene Glazer of Dean Witter Reynolds. "It's a niche company with declining marketshare."

Others said Apple was finally focusing on areas of the business where they can still beprofitable.

"It's very clear that they realized this is a very difficult time and that the only way they are going to get back to profitability is to cut costs and focus on core competencies," said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies Research International.<



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[pkcable]

Thanks for the reminder!

[Wiki Cydia]

This has never been a good example/comparison, and is an even poorer fit now that BBRY is set for acquisition. There's no telling what would've happened to Apple under the thumb of private equity, and there's no way fo knowing what the future holds for BBRY either. On the one hand, BBRY is not nearly as bad off now as Apple was ten, but on the other, Apple's success is the result of entering three new markets, one of which (music players) is contracting fairly rapidly while the other two are markets BBRY is either exiting (consumer smartphones) or already exited (tablets). If you want to feel better, just remember that BBRY is not quite in the trouble Apple was then. But you can't take much from Apple's success that's applicable here.

[qcbarry25]

are there no other company to compare to beside apple or something? i guess from now on every bad company will go and become one of the most powerful company.

couple steps to become like apple. laid off worker. have horrible sales figure. put your company up for sales. follow those steps and your company will emerge and become one of the most powerful company in the world

[BBSpring]

I think, and it's just an assumption, that the post was meant as an attempt to let the folks who are declaring BBRY dead that this stage just happens to be part of the business of being in a very competitive market.

Apple's woes and turnaround have nothing to do with BBRY today , except to say. It has happened before and WILL happen again. Some emerge well, some die off. The new group in charge can learn one thing from Apple, and that is, it must remove the company from direct competition and market scrutiny and asses the options and opportunities . Apple was able to do that and it worked out quite well. Only time will tell the outcome.

Till then, bring on my Z30.

[BBSpring]

are there no other company to compare to beside apple or something? i guess from now on every bad company will go and become one of the most powerful company.

couple steps to become like apple. laid off worker. have horrible sales figure. put your company up for sales. follow those steps and your company will emerge and become one of the most powerful company in the world

You want another example: Audi. left for dead, worst consumer reports. The difference of course is that they have always had great corp backing and $$ to wait it out. But just 10yr ago, nobody was buying, and all reports were horrible. Today, much different story.

Management can make a huge difference.

[Daniel Montanaro]

Never look at history as a means to predict the future.

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[lnichols]

You want another example: Audi. left for dead, worst consumer reports. The difference of course is that they have always had great corp backing and $$ to wait it out. But just 10yr ago, nobody was buying, and all reports were horrible. Today, much different story.

Management can make a huge difference.

Audi is and was owned by VW who also has many brands, implemented platform sharing of parts etc to manage costs, etc. Being taken private is completely different than having to resurrect one of many brands. VW could have let Audi die and come up with a new brand if they wanted
. BlackBerry going private will not help with economies of scale issues, money infusion, etc that a purchase from another tech company could provide.

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[mikeo007]

If people keep making new threads about this every week, maybe it will actually come true!
If you wish upon a star...

http://forums.crackberry.com/general...1997-a-851651/

[NaijaBerry]

I think, and it's just an assumption, that the post was meant as an attempt to let the folks who are declaring BBRY dead that this stage just happens to be part of the business of being in a very competitive market.

Apple's woes and turnaround have nothing to do with BBRY today , except to say. It has happened before and WILL happen again. Some emerge well, some die off. The new group in charge can learn one thing from Apple, and that is, it must remove the company from direct competition and market scrutiny and asses the options and opportunities . Apple was able to do that and it worked out quite well. Only time will tell the outcome.

Till then, bring on my Z30.

I agree with you and we get it, but while hoping for the best for BBRY, we seem to forget that Apple is a multi-product company with multiple streams of income from their various hardware in different segments. Since the iPhone came out in 2007 its been up up and away! Trying to draw out a basis for comparison simply because they're both tech companies doesn't quite cut it.

Computers and phones are just not the same thing, phones cost a lot less and are less available, I can't remember being able to get a MacBook Pro on contract for free or $100. I reckon a comparison for a comeback should be drawn based on a product to product or segment to segment basis. Apple was wise enough to break into many segments, and they're still exploring line extensions, Apple Retina Display TV anyone?

[BerryWizard]

Unless you can get back in time, comparing BlackBerry today with Apple back then is pointless imo. The time has changed and the competition is 100 times more aggressive in the smartphone market.

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[moretreelessbush]

lnichols is right, AUDI w/o the backing of VW management would have perished. BBRY needs to find someone who has not only a deep pocket, but also resource/expertise/scale.in technology / marketing / retail / manufacturing, etc, Fairfax has none of them.

[zzbsb]

Some of you guys just don't get the point and enjoy trashing BB? All OP wants to say is there's still hope ahead that BB can turn around. It's probably not likely to go back where it was at but at least it's possible for it to become a good competitor in the market.

[BerryWizard]

Apple also made a lot of money from the explosion of the sales of macintosh in the early 2000's which financed them while they were getting ios ready. BlackBerry doesn't have that alternative.

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[qcbarry25]

You want another example: Audi. left for dead, worst consumer reports. The difference of course is that they have always had great corp backing and $$ to wait it out. But just 10yr ago, nobody was buying, and all reports were horrible. Today, much different story.

Management can make a huge difference.

well,do you want example of bad to worse and then out of business? im pretty sure i can think of a lot more situation like that than success. every company different. so no point of comparing it to apple because they found great success not to mention they got so many product line compare to bb.

[qcbarry25]

Some of you guys just don't get the point and enjoy trashing BB? All OP wants to say is there's still hope ahead that BB can turn around. It's probably not likely to go back where it was at but at least it's possible for it to become a good competitor in the market.

so if OP want to say there are hope, then say there are hope. dont need to make the apple comparison again, which most ppl don't see any correlation between the two.

btw, ppl here also compared Thors to Steve Jobs.

[BBSpring]

I agree with you and we get it, but while hoping for the best for BBRY, we seem to forget that Apple is a multi-product company with multiple streams of income from their various hardware in different segments. Since the iPhone came out in 2007 its been up up and away! Trying to draw out a basis for comparison simply because they're both tech companies doesn't quite cut it.

Computers and phones are just not the same thing, phones cost a lot less and are less available, I can't remember being able to get a MacBook Pro on contract for free or $100. I reckon a comparison for a comeback should be drawn based on a product to product or segment to segment basis. Apple was wise enough to break into many segments, and they're still exploring line extensions, Apple Retina Display TV anyone?

I think folks get that point. The reason for the comparison is to show that companies fall in malaise for many reasons and some get out. The post was to those that say " oh, BBRY is dead" well guess what? while that may happen, it's not for certain and THIS situation has happened in the past. The details and criteria are not the same...so the direct comps do not apply past that.

[BBSpring]

Audi is and was owned by VW who also has many brands, implemented platform sharing of parts etc to manage costs, etc. Being taken private is completely different than having to resurrect one of many brands. VW could have let Audi die and come up with a new brand if they wanted
. BlackBerry going private will not help with economies of scale issues, money infusion, etc that a purchase from another tech company could provide.

Posted via CB10

It's just an example of a dying brand being resurrected. The BBRY brand is very much in trouble and will take some skill to bring it back, Lots of bad sentiment, lack of trust abounds . Much like Audi had to deal with, Money helps, as does skill and TIME.

It could be a mop maker, if the public has very bad feelings about your brand. Good luck selling that product without some serious hard work.

I do think that being taken over by a bigger tech company was a better option, but at least one was offered. If you believed the press, there was no option and the company was doomed to shut it's doors.

[bhavi_jp]

LMAO. People still has hope?

[sixpacker]

One things for sure, the bulk of the original bbry designers will be long gone if any lazarus style miracle occurs. They are leaving droves and the USP of BBRY is rapidly departing.
Skilled staff wont hang around and be treated like disposable commodities for long.

[Dunt Dunt Dunt]

Apple never became a very big company until they came out with something other than their primary product... computers.

For BlackBerry to be a success, they will have to find another product other than a smartphone to market and sell. Or Fairfax is going to have to commit to a huge amount of money to "try again" with BB10.... something I don't see them doing.

[stabstabdie]

Ya well before the ipad, ipod, and iPhone.
What does blackberry have in the pipe?
Two more devices????

Not the same.

Not even the same ballpark

Not even the same sport

[sinsin07]

Nice article. Here's another:

Steve Jobs was not accustomed to boos, but there he was, on stage at the airy and decrepit Park Plaza Castle auditorium in Boston, absorbing a crescendo of unhappiness. It was 1997, the year Jobs replaced Gil Amelio and declared himself �interim CEO� of Apple (AAPL), saying he was too busy with Pixar and family to take over permanently. At the annual Macworld Expo that August, Jobs told the long-suffering Apple faithful that there was still hope for the computer company but that it would first have to put aside its all-too-consuming fixation with its dominant rival, Microsoft (MSFT).

�We are shepherding some of the great assets in the computer industry. If we want to move forward and see Apple healthy and prospering again, we have to let go of a few things,� said Jobs, dressed in his trademark outfit of that era, a sweater vest and pleated slacks. Microsoft, he announced, was investing $150 million in Apple and making a promise to develop Microsoft Office software for the Macintosh for the next five years. Bill Gates popped up on a 100-foot screen, appearing pedantic and flaccid in contrast to Jobs�s swagger. �The era of setting this up as a competition between Apple and Microsoft is over as far as I�m concerned,� Jobs said after Gates�s brief and awkward speech, trying to quell the disappointed audience, some of whom appeared to be in tears.

The d�tente forged on that August day was, in retrospect, a cold calculation by Jobs that Apple did not need to win the old battle for the PC in order to prevail in a dawning war for digital media devices and the Internet. It was also the first bit of evidence that despite his professed ambivalence, Jobs was fully committing himself to an Apple turnaround. Colin Crawford, who ran Macworld in the 1990s along with publications such as MacWEEK, recalls asking Jobs back then why he wanted to return to the company he had founded. �He sort of looked at me quizzically and said that his and Apple�s DNA were completely intertwined,� Crawford says. �He said that Apple�s brand was badly tarnished and that he intended to repolish it.�

STORY: The Many Faces of Steve Jobs: The Paperback Comes Out With a Younger Image
It�s difficult to remember how far Apple had fallen. Just a few months away from bankruptcy, the company had a dwindling 4 percent share of the PC market and annual losses exceeding $1 billion. Three CEOs had come and gone in a decade; board members had tried to sell the company but found no takers. Two months after Apple�s deal with Microsoft, Michael Dell told a tech industry symposium that if he ran Apple, he�d �shut it down and give the money back to shareholders.�

Lucky for the shareholders that Jobs and not Dell (DELL) was at Apple�s helm. Apple�s market capitalization went from $3 billion at the start of 1997 [footnote 1] to $350 billion today�more than the valuation of Microsoft and Dell combined�making it the second most valuable company in the world. A single share, worth a little over $4 the day Dell spoke, is now worth nearly 100 times that. Much would be written about how Apple forever changed the way people communicate, entertain themselves, even the way they absorb information. Here�s a simpler way to sum up Apple�s influence, in four words: iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad.

Jobs recognized that an industry dominated by Microsoft and Intel would not adapt smoothly in the era of personal media and communication devices. Those companies could not move quickly while in lockstep with their multiple partners in hardware and retail, and Jobs bet that they would not innovate rapidly or radically enough, since their profits relied on the preservation of an old regime. He also understood that in the fluid and rapidly evolving technology business�where new technologies are constantly disrupting the established winners�there was a chance to reshuffle the deck in his favor.

STORY: Apple Chiefs Discuss Strategy, Market Share�and the New iPhones
What Apple removed from technology products, Jobs liked to say, was just as important as what it added. He banished elements like separate numerical keypads, floppy disk drives, and computer mice with two buttons. With the help of Apple�s chief designer, a Brit named Jonathan Ive [footnote 2], he ushered in candy colors, gleaming metals with rounded edges, and cone-shaped Wi-Fi base stations. Apple�s commitment to industrial design was infectious. �His legacy of making design a strategic tool cannot be underestimated,� says Robert Brunner, a former Apple designer and now the CEO of the firm Ammunition Group. �Company after company comes in the door here, and in every conversation Apple is discussed. They want to do it like Apple. Steve raised the bar not just for the industry but for the world.�

OP, where is your Steve Jobs, Jony Ives in the Blackberry turnaround?

Can't be Thorsten. The reason they got the jet is so he can get out of Waterloo with the quickness on Friday.

[BoldPreza]

I think we all need to be realistic here this thing could still go either way but with a buyout like this I am very concerned.

Palm was bought by hp which was supposed to be it's saviour. A year later they were shut down.

Chrysler has been bought how many times now? Three I believe after the ipo in the next couple of weeks. Daimler ruined them and private equity destroyed what little was left. Only fiat is showing some signs of progress but even now Chrysler may have to end up saving their butts.

Apple made it as a standalone after a strong vibrant and vocal leader came in, I have yet to see that happen for BlackBerry.

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