Apple extends iMac release to Sept

Duncan Martell

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Computer Inc. announced plans for a next-generation iMac desktop computer, but said it won't ship until September, missing its original internal schedule.

The company also said it has stopped taking orders for the current iMac, sales of which have slowed in the recent quarter, and didn't give details about the forthcoming iMac replacement.

"We planned to have our next-generation iMac ready by the time the inventory of current iMacs runs out in the next few weeks," the Cupertino, California-based company said in a statement. "But our planning was obviously less than perfect."

Shares of Apple fell nearly 6 percent to $30.40 in after-hours trade.

Apple's statement was somewhat unusual in that the secretive company hasn't said anything publicly about re-designing the iMac, analysts said.

The company said it has stopped taking orders for the current iMac as it begins "the transition from the current iMac line to an all-new iMac line."

Analysts said that Apple shouldn't be hurt by the lack of an iMac for the back-to-school shopping season, which is important for the company, because it has emphasized other models for the education market.

In the education market, Apple has historically emphasized its iBook notebook PC and the eMac desktop machine rather than the iMac computer, which has a circular base and a flat-panel screen that hovers above it.

"From a back to school point of view, those are their products and they are pushing hard on notebooks for education," said Roger Kay, an analyst at market research firm IDC.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment beyond the statement issued by the maker of the Macintosh computer and iPod digital music players.

Apple may have had a problem with a supplier of the flat-panel displays used in iMacs or another component, Kay said, adding that sales of the current iMac have been slowing in recent quarters.

Apple had a hit with the original iMac all-in-one design, which had a traditional video monitor and came in colors like blueberry and tangerine. Other computer companies, such as International Business Machines Corp. had nowhere near the success Apple did in the quirky all-in-one PC category.

"They did remarkably well with the original iMac and then they got another pop with the flat-panel version," Kay said. "But the current iMac line has been tapering down for the last few quarters."

In regular trade, the stock fell 24 cents, or less than 1 percent, to close at $32.30 on Nasdaq.