NeXT said to be in the red
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December 31, 1996: 9:30 a.m. ET
Published report says Apple is paying a tidy sum for a chronic money-loser
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) -- NeXT Software, the company Apple Computer recently agreed to purchase for nearly $400 million, has reportedly not earned an operating profit in at least three years.
The Wall Street Journal, citing internal NeXT documents, reported the software maker posted an $801,000 net loss on $46.8 million revenues during 1995, the last full year for which figures are available.
For the first six months of 1996, NeXT had an $8.5 million net loss on revenue of $21.7 million, the paper said.
Apple's rich bid for NeXT caught the attention of many analysts, in part because it was four times the price Apple was willing to pay for Be Inc., another company it was recently eyeing.
Apple officials said at the time the difference in bids reflected the fact that NeXT was an established company.
The deal came at a time when Apple appeared to have turned the corner and begun what, in all likelihood, will be a long recovery process. In October Apple posted its first profit in a year.
NeXT was started by Steve Jobs, who founded Apple with Stephen Wozniak, but was ousted in 1985 after a power struggle with then chief-executive John Sculley.
Initially, NeXT made high-end computers, known for their sleek design, computing speed and number-crunching power. But the price tag proved prohibitive to most consumers.
In 1993, NeXT announced it was getting out of the computer hardware business. Its next challenge was software design.
Apple said it plans to use NeXT's operating system as the foundation for its next generation of Macintosh computers.
Neither Apple nor NeXT could be reached for comment on the figures, the newspaper said.
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