By Rachel Chalmers
Rumors are multiplying about the future of Apple Computer Inc’s consumer laptop. After MSNBC reported that the so-called P1 was in danger of getting scrapped because of serious engineering concerns, advocacy site MacOS Rumors retorted that the P1 will absolutely not be scrapped or put on the back burner, according to its own reliable sources. MacOS Rumors describes the much- anticipated device as multi-colored and semi-translucent. Apple spokesperson Nathalie Welch said the company has not announced any kind of delivery date on the item. We did announce that in 1999 we will be delivering a consumer portable, she told ComputerWire, and that’s still the plan. While the company won’t divulge specific details, it will say that the laptop will be geared toward the consumer market, just as the desktop iMac is.
Back on the rumor mill, Britain’s The Register reports that Taiwan’s Alpha Top Corp, which has already been contracted to begin producing the consumer portable sometime this month, expects to ship 200,000 units by the end of 1999, equating to sales of around $375m. A test run is apparently slated for early July in order to ensure demo units will be available in time for Steve Jobs’ Macworld New York keynote on July 21. Since Jobs returned to the company he helped to found, he has streamlined the hardware side of the business into four product groups: desktop and portable, business and consumer. Three of those four categories are filled – by the G3, iMac and Powerbook. Shipment of a product in the fourth category is vital if present confidence in the resurgent Apple is to be maintained.
