Company History: 1993-1996

NOTE: The Company History section is no longer actively maintained, though it is accurate through 2004. For a more detailed (and current) history of the company, can be found at Wikipedia

Spindler, by all accounts, was the wrong man for the job. A fairly impersonal man, Spindler's office was nearly impossible to get into. However, in his two and a half years as CEO, Spindler oversaw several accomplishments.

In 1994 Apple announced the PowerMac family, the first Macs to be based on the PowerPC chip, an extremely fast processor co-developed with IBM and Motorola. The PowerPC processor allowed Macs to compete with, and in many cases surpass, the speed of Intel's newer processors.

Spindler also decided to license the Mac OS to several companies, including Power Computing, one of the more successful Mac-clone makers. But many believe the Apple was too restrictive in its licensing agreements, and only a handful of companies ever licensed the Mac OS.

Apple's worst problem wasn't selling computers--it was building them. By June 1995 Apple had $1 billion dollars in backorders--and did not have the parts to build them. Apple's problems were added to by the late-summer release of Windows '95, which mimicked the Mac GUI better than ever.

Apple took its worst plunge ever in the winter of 1995-96. Misjudging the market, Apple pushed low-cost Performas over mid-range PowerMacs, and failed to make a profit at all. Apple posted a $68 million loss for that quarter. In January 1996, Spindler was asked to resign as CEO and was replaced by Gil Amelio, the former president of National Semiconductor.