Shares of Apple soar to new high
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, January 11, 2006
SAN FRANCISCO – Apple Computer Inc. shares leapt to an all-time high Wednesday, boosted by the company’s decision to use Intel Corp. microprocessors to help it grab a bigger share of the desktop PC market.
Apple is tapping not only the latest chip technologies that rival makers of Windows-based computers, but also the marketing power that Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor company, delivers.
Apple unveiled its first two machines with Intel’s Core Duo – an iMac and new laptop – on Tuesday and said it would not thwart users who want to run Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating system on the machines. With Intel processors inside the new Macs, their owners could run Microsoft Windows and software designed for it at full speed.
The move to Intel chips will boost Apple’s sales and erase the perception that Macintosh computers lag behind Windows-based PCs in performance, analysts said.
“Now consumers can buy a Mac that is three times faster and for the same price,” said Nathan Brookwood, an analyst with Insight 64 research firm.
Apple shares soared $3.04, or 3.8 percent, to close at a split-adjusted record high of $83.90 on the Nasdaq Stock Market on Wednesday.
With the success of its iPod players and flashy retail stores, Apple has already begun siphoning customers from the Windows camp. After years of hovering at around 3 percent, Apple last year cracked 4 percent of the U.S. PC market.
Apple’s shift to Intel microprocessors came months earlier than expected as CEO Steve Jobs debuted Tuesday an iMac desktop and a notebook based on the chip makers’ new two-brain processor, the Intel Core Duo.
When it first announced plans to switch in June, Apple said it expected to begin making the transition by the middle of this year. On Tuesday, Jobs said the entire Mac line will be converted to Intel by the end of the year.
The shift comes as Apple’s hugely popular iPods continue to enthrall the public. Apple reported a record $5.7 billion in sales during the holiday quarter as it sold 14 million iPods – nearly three times as many units as it did in the same period of 2004. Meanwhile, Apple’s online iTunes store has sold more than 850 million songs and 8 million videos to date, he said.
