Apple's new Power Macintoshes, launched three weeks ago amid great fanfare, are selling well and could be in short supply later this year.
"They've been selling like Power hot cakes," says Alan Bush, president of Computer City, a retailing chain.
While big companies are still mulling purchases, "there's a high level of interest. We're pretty bullish," says Richard Crawford, president of Random Access, a Denver company that sells PCs to companies. Random Access has already sold "hundreds," he adds.
The British Broadcasting Corp.'s World Service has bought 87 Power Macs. It will use them to run custom-made language translation programs on tight daily deadlines, where speed is key.
That's all good news for Apple, which has everything riding on the new Macs. Billed as the future of personal computing, the Power Macs are based on a new microprocessor chip called the PowerPC, developed by Apple, IBM and Motorola.
Apple executives predict the Power Macs - which boast unprecedented speed in some applications and can run software designed for IBM PCs - will steal customers from IBM, Compaq and Dell among others. Those companies make PCs using microprocessors from Intel and a software system, called Windows, made by Microsoft. Such PCs account for 85% of PC sales.
People who have tested the new Macs are generally impressed. "We'll go ahead and buy some," says Troy Shelton, of Landor Associates, which creates logos and does other design work for companies.
But some are waiting until software designed specifically for the Power Macs is widely available. Apple says up to 60 programs from software developers will be ready in weeks.
Any surge in sales - especially from Fortune 500 firms that buy in bulk - will worsen an already tight-supply situation. "Back orders are continuing to build," Mark Briggs, CEO of Intelligent Electronics Reseller Network. "If you have a significant number of (programs for the Power Mac) roll in, that will compound the shortage. It could extend through the rest of the year."
