The $740m loss for the quarter is a one-off event soon to be forgotten, but Apple Computer Inc’s fiscal second quarter figures were worryingly worse than expected in two other respects. Sales for the period slumped 18% compared with the same period last year, and the company is cutting another 1,500 jobs over the next 12 months on top of the 1,300 cuts already announced. In a fast- growing industry like computers, the fate of a company that sees a sharp fall in turnover tends to be like that of a steer that trips in the middle of a stampede. Cash and short-term investment drain was just about as bad as feared, down to $592m from $1,100m at the end of the previous quarter. Apple is renewing some short- term loans and pursuing additional financing alternatives. Apple intends to outsource more operational functions and sell off some assets, and it will reposition itself as a multimedia and an Internet company.
