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Intuit dumps Mac Quicken
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April 20, 1998: 7:50 p.m. ET
Company to stop development on version of finance program
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Intuit Inc. Monday told owners of Apple Computer Corp.'s Macintosh platform to expect no new versions of its popular Quicken personal finance software.
Intuit said engineers who were working on the Macintosh version of Quicken will be moved to create additional personal finance features for its web site.
The move marks the latest setback for Apple, which has watched the pool of software developers shrink steadily over the last few years as the company tries to halt a slide in PC sales.
The decision could also have consequences in Apple's board room since Intuit President William Campbell is a member of Apple's board of directors. Campbell was appointed to two-year term on Aug. 5, 1997.
With the company's decision to ditch the Mac version of Quicken, rumors have been buzzing in Silicon Valley that Campbell will be asked to give up his board seat early. Apple's board of directors is scheduled to meet with shareholders on Wednesday.
While Intuit's decision will leave Macintosh users without a personal finance program dedicated to their platform, analysts downplayed the decision, saying the current version is comprehensive.
"Quicken 98 is really feature complete for the Mac. So even if you were to pick it up two years from now, there probably won't be that many things that are not covered," said James Staten, personal computer analyst at market research firm Dataquest.
Apple officials did not return calls seeking comment on the decision.
Staten said Intuit's decision was not a surprise given most Macintosh customers have yet to upgrade to Quicken 98.
"Intuit wasn't seeing huge [numbers of] upgrades from year to year. Saying they will increase the feature set on the Internet is in line with what they were doing anyway.
"From version 7 to Quicken 98, most of the features you gained were on the Internet. This [decision] fits that trend. Frankly, the things they can add to a finance package changes so much that it will be out of date 30 days after you buy it," Staten said.
A Microsoft Corp. spokesman declined to comment on whether the company might develop a version of Microsoft Money, which competes with Quicken, for the Mac.
However, Staten it is unlikely Microsoft would add a version of Money for the Mac since the limited amount of money they would gain wouldn't be sufficient to cover development costs.
"There's not a lot of money to be made in that space and development would start from scratch. They would also have to convert people from Quicken to Money. If you're happy with Quicken 6 and won't upgrade to Quicken 98, you won't pay to switch completely," he said.
Intuit's will continue developing new versions of its Macintosh tax preparation software, MacInTax. 
--by staff writer Cyrus Afzali
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