Apple unveils new line, built-to-order 'Net sales plan

     In his latest move to revive the fortunes of Apple Computer Inc., cofounder Steve Jobs yesterday rolled out a new line of high-powered Macintosh machines and a new plan for selling them over the Internet. Perhaps just as importantly, Jobs also gave Apple loyalists a new public enemy number one, to replace former foe-turned-ally Microsoft Corp.
     Michael Dell, founder of the mail-order PC firm Dell Computer Corp., is the new bad guy. At a speech sent by satellite to Apple offices nationwide, Jobs displayed a photo of the billionaire Texan decorated with a bull's-eye and sniped at Dell for saying earlier this year that Apple should go out of business. "We're coming after you, buddy," Jobs vowed.
     He plans to do it by imitating Dell's wildly successful strategy of selling custom-built computers over the Internet. Now Apple customers can go on line to place orders. And they won't have to settle for the standard line of Macintoshes. Customers will be able to customize their purchase, adding such features as more memory or a faster processor. All computers will be built only after they're ordered, instead of being drawn from an inventory of preassembled machines. Apple officials believe this new "build-to-order" policy will slash inventory costs and address Apple's frequent failures to build enough of their most popular machines. Build-to-order was pioneered by Dell, and Apple is just the latest big computer company to say that it is copying the idea. Others who are moving to build-to-order systems include Compaq Computer Corp. and Sony Electronics Inc. Apple also emphasized a new deal announced last week with CompUSA Inc., the Dallas-based computer retailer. All CompUSA stores will have a separate section devoted to Apple hardware and software and staffed by workers with expert training in the Macintosh and other Apple products.
     Among the products for sale will be a new line of Macintoshes based on the latest PowerPC chip technology. Jobs said that the PowerPC G3 chip is faster than any processor produced by Intel Corp., maker of the Pentium chips that drive most desktop computers. With new products and a more flexible sales strategy, Apple aims to halt a continued decline in market share that threatens the firm's viability.      
     In 1997's third quarter, Apple computers made up only 3.3 percent of all personal computers sold, down from 5.6 percent in the third quarter of last year, according to International Data Corp. One question left untouched was the matter of appointing a new chief executive. The post has been vacant since Gilbert Amelio was ousted this summer. Jobs has denied any interest in the job. Jobs was careful not to take potshots at his old rival Microsoft, which has invested $150 million in Apple stock and vows to continue supporting the Macintosh. Indeed, the conference featured videos of Microsoft executives praising the latest Macintosh computers. But Dell was fair game. Jobs even dedicated a new Apple commercial to him. The black-and-white ad features a young Muhammad Ali hurling mock punches and insults at the camera. "We're not going to sit around and take the punches any more," said Jobs. Dell spokesman T.R. Reid said Dell's comment about Apple was an off-the-cuff remark that merely reflected the overwhelming market share lead of computers based on Microsoft's operating systems. "Those who read more into it are doing it for their own purposes," Reid said. Some Boston Apple users who watched a satellite transmission of Jobs's speech were impressed. "I think that if they can actually do it, it's what all the Apple evangelists have been waiting for, for the last 10, 12 years," said Andy Espo, president of ImaginEvents, a special events producer in Allston. Mark Wineburg, owner of Yes Computers, an Apple retailer in Northampton, said he wasn't worried that Apple's new strategy would cut into his sales. "In some ways Apple is in direct competition with us," Wineburg said. "At the same time, the better Apple does, the better we do."