The preliminary findings of Computer Intelligence InfoCorp’s First 100 Days Of The Power Macintosh study shows the machine has met many, but not all of the goals laid out by Apple Computer. Computer Intelligence research methodology measures sales from US primary reseller channels of dealers and superstores. From this data, the company projects that in the first hundred days, 66,300 Power Macs shipped in the US, compared with 40,900 Pentium-based systems shipped. However, the report does not track direct sales, which would improve the Pentium tally substantially. Computer Intelligence says it spotted a plateau in sales at the end of May, however, Dan Ness, director of microsystems research at the company, says this was expected as the first flush of early adopters passed, and as summer approached – a traditionally slow time for computer sales. Generally, he believes that buyers have been happy with their new boxes and he sees the lack of compatibility problems as a major triumph. The one group that has been disappointed, he says, is the small group of Windows users that believed the publicity about Insignia Solutions Ltd SoftWindows and were generally ‘dismayed’ with the results. Computer Intelligence says the larger customers it identified during its 25,000 monthly end-user interviews were already strong Apple accounts. The company’s stated goal of converting Windows users does not seem to have happened yet, said Aaron Goldberg, its executive vice-president. One of the most interesting parts of the report is the estimate of the profit Apple Computer Inc is making. The researchers say the gross margin in the Power Macintosh line runs from 26% on the 6100 to more than 40% on the high-end 8100. While Apple’s pricing policy has hit its volumes, Computer Intelligence believes the Power Macintoshes are delivering as much as twice the gross margins as comparable Pentium-based personal computers. More extensive findings are due to be published any day now.
