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iMac selling like hot cakes
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September 2, 1998: 10:31 a.m. ET
Apple says it can't keep up with demand for its new desktop computer
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Despite its best production efforts, Apple Computer says it can't keep up with demand for the new iMac desktop computers, which are flying off shelves at home and abroad.
At a publishing conference Tuesday, Apple's interim chief executive Steve Jobs said sales of the iMac have been "phenomenal," adding the computer already is sold out for the quarter in Japan after going on sale there last weekend.
"We have had a phenomenal response to this product," Jobs said in his keynote address. "We cannot keep up with demand."
iMacs reportedly are selling at record- breaking speed at computer retailers across the country, including Comp USA. Response in Asia has been just as strong, despite the region's economic turmoil.
Without predicting when Apple will catch up with demand, Jobs said the company has been shipping "tens of thousands" of iMacs to retailers every week since it was launched Aug. 15.
He didn't provide specifics on the company's order backlog.
Before the iMac's launch, some analysts speculated the computer might be rejected by consumers since it has no floppy disk drive.
But Jobs contends the feature wasn't offered because it no longer is a necessary component of desktop computing.
Apple has a history of new product production glitches, including the launch of its Macintosh PowerBook notebooks, which were recalled in 1996.
Shares of Apple Computer (AAPL) were trading up 1-1/2, more than 4 percent, at 35-5/8 on the Nasdaq early Wednesday .
-- from staff and wire reports
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