According to News.com (“Apple begins shipping Titanium laptops“), Apple started off the company’s financial analyst conference today by announcing that the PowerBook G4 Titanium has begun shipping earlier this week, as some of you may have noticed if you have been following the Tracker. The Apple Store (Apple Store at the Tracker) has begun shipping the low-end (400MHz G4/128MB/10GB) and middle-end (500MHz G4/128MB/20GB) configurations with many catalog resellers ready to ship out the low-end configuration within the next 24-72 hours. About the early Titanium sales:
“The orders have been very gratifying,” Jobs said at a gathering at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.
In other interesting tidbits, Apple looks like it’s planning to shake up the reseller scene. Here’s some of the more tastier quotes:
Tim Cook, Apple’s senior vice president, said the company wants to add more distribution options internationally and to improve its sales efforts in the United States. This will involve severing ties with some Mac retailers, Cook said.
“We’ll cut some channel partners that may not be providng the buying experience” we want, Cook said. The company may add other sales outlets, he said.
Jobs also declined to comment on Apple’s plans to open its own retail stores.
“I can’t talk about initiatives we haven’t announced yet.”
We can spend all night picking apart the semantics in that last quote. Apple’s CFO, Fred Anderson, also expects Apple to return to profitability this quarter (“Apple expects to be profitable this quarter“) with a small profit without any layoffs.
