Apple hits and misses

Apple is known for having many successful product launches. But it had some unsuccessful ones too.

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Hit: OS X

In May 2000, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs introduced the Mac OS X during the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, Calif. Jobs announced at the conference that Apple would delay shipping by several months its most ambitious upgrade ever to its Macintosh operating system to give developers time to create accompanying software. The operating system has come with every Mac since its release and falls right behind Windows as the most-used operating system, according to a W3Counter report.

PAUL SAKUMA / AP

Hit: The iMac G3

In 1998, Apple made a radical move in the world of personal computers when it removed the floppy disk drive with the iMac G3. The iMac 3 helped Apple have its first profitable year since 1995.

CHIAKI TSUKUMO / AP

Miss: The Power Mac G4 Cube

The Power Mac G4 Cube was a diminutive computer that required a separate monitor, unlike its iMac cousin. In 2000, Steve Jobs introduced the G4 Cube as “simply the coolest computer ever.” Well, apparently it wasn’t. Lless than a year later, Apple issued a press release announcing that it was putting the 8-inch cube on ice, because of weak sales.

Rick Maiman / BLOOMBERG NEWS

Hit: The iPod

Apple’s iPod changed the way people listened to music. Consumers ditched the clunky portable CD player for the audio device that, as Steve Jobs said, fits your entire music library in your pocket.The iPod has helped Apple reach record profits over the years. It continues being the best-selling portable audio device, holding over 70 percent of the market share, according to reports.

PAUL SAKUMA / AP

Miss: The Apple Lisa

The first Apple Lisa was released in 1983. The computer wasn't received well; the nearly $10,000 price tag was seen as too high. Plus, the system ran slowly. A year later the computer was discontinued and replaced with the Lisa II (pictured), which also suffered a short shelf life. Apple ended up dumping unsold Lisas in a Utah landfill, according to reports.

Noah Berger / BLOOMBERG NEWS

Miss: The MessagePad

There was a point in the 1990s when PDAs were considered cool, but the MessagePad didn't seem to be. The MessagePad, which was commonly referred to as the Newton, its operating system, was launched in 1993 and was one of the earliest PDAs. Consumers had a hard time coming to grips with the device. It was clunky and had a handwriting recognition feature that was so bad it was even mocked in a "Simpsons" episode.

RICHARD DREW / AP

Hit: The iPhone

The iPhone, released in 2007, was a game-changer in the mobile device world. The smartphone, which was the first mobile device to use a multi-touch screen, allowed consumers to control the phone with a buttonless interface. Sales of the iPhone have steadily increased over the years. In June 2010, Apple announced that the fourth-generation iPhone became the company’s “most successful product launch” in its history. It sold more than 1.7 million within three days.

Yuriko Nakao / REUTERS

Miss: MobileMe

Even Jobs considered the cloud storage system MobileMe a miss after its 2008 launch. According to a Fortune magazine profile, Jobs chastised his MobileMe team members for “tarnish[ing] Apple’s reputation” and said they “should hate each other for having let each other down” after the system received harsh reviews. MobileMe had such a rough start with crashing servers and other problems that Apple apologized and gave its users 30-day subscriptions free of charge.

Hit: The iPad

For years, companies tried to fill that middle ground between the cell phone and the computer. Many had failed. Then Apple came along with the iPad. The company sold 1 million iPads in less than a month after its release, which was twice as fast it took Apple to sell the iPhone. While many rival tablets have cropped up, the iPad continues to dominate the market.

PETER MACDIARMID / GETTY IMAGES

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Business

Apple hits and misses

Apple is known for having many successful product launches. But it had some unsuccessful ones too.

Featured Photo Galleries