Editing Power Computing Corporation (section)

=== Acquisition of assets by Apple ===
In early 1997 Apple indicated that it wanted much higher license revenue from clonemakers, and other conditions. In June it and Power Computing tentatively agreed to new terms. The deal was not finalized before the July 9 departure of Apple CEO [[Gil Amelio]], and his ''de facto'' replacement [[Steve Jobs]] sought to end or greatly diminish the clone program.{{r|beale199711}} Jobs believed that Apple had started to license clones too late to repeat the business model pioneered by [[Microsoft]] in the early 1980s.

: "Apple has to let go of this ghost and invent the future," Jobs said. Instead of expanding the share of the market that used computers based on the Macintosh system, the decision to license clones simply ate into Apple's own sales of hardware, he said.<ref>NY Times: Apple Decides Cloning Isn't Its Route Back To Profitability --By JOHN MARKOFF (3 September 1997)</ref>

At MacWorld Boston in August, Power Computing President [[Joel Kocher]] unsuccessfully tried to convince attendees to rally against Apple's stiff new licensing policies.<ref name="beale199711">{{Cite magazine |last=Beale |first=Steven |date=November 1997 |title=Apple Eliminates the Top Clone Vendor |url=https://archive.org/stream/MacWorld_9711_November_1997#page/n33/mode/2up |magazine=Macworld |pages=30–31 |volume=14 |issue=11}}</ref> He and other executives resigned soon afterwards as Power Computing's board chose to be acquired instead.

On September 2, 1997, Apple Computer bought key assets of Power Computing for more than $100 million in Apple stock and roughly $10 million in cash.<ref>{{Citation|first=Luke|last=Dormehl|title=Today in Apple history: Mac clone maker closes shop|magazine=Cult of Mac|date=January 31, 2017|url=https://www.cultofmac.com/464763/mac-clone-maker-closes-shop/}}</ref><ref name="cnet-apple-powercc">[https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-purchases-power-computing/ Apple purchases Power Computing], CNET. 1997-09-02.</ref> As part of the deal, Apple got back the license that allowed Power Computing to sell Macintosh-based machines, also obtaining "the right to retain key employees with expertise in direct marketing, distribution, and engineering".<ref name="apple19970902_pr">{{ cite press release | url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981205102801/product.info.apple.com/pr/press.releases/1997/q4/970902.pr.rel.powercc.html | title=Apple to Acquire Power Computing for $100M | publisher=Apple Computer Inc. | date=2 September 1997 | access-date=12 February 2025 }}</ref> Some of them helped created Apple's next generation of technologies like the [[iMac]]. Contrary to impressions given by some reporting and the title of Apple's own press release, Apple did not acquire Power Computing itself.<ref name="apple20120218_powercomputing">{{cite web|title=Power Computing Corporation|url=https://support.apple.com/kb/TA37306?locale=en_US|website=Official Apple Support|publisher=[[Apple Inc.]]|access-date=May 10, 2017|date=February 18, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210325120812/https://support.apple.com/kb/TA37306?locale=en_US}}</ref> Indeed, Power Computing merely emphasised the withdrawal of its license, reprinting the Apple press release, and encouraging potential buyers to hurry while stocks of its clone models remained.<ref name="macworld199711_powercomputing">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/MacWorld_9711_November_1997/page/n1/mode/2up | title=We Lost Our License for Speeding | magazine=MacWorld | date=November 1997 | access-date=12 February 2025 }}</ref>

The company had planned to offer Wintel clones before losing the Apple license,<ref name="burrows19970421">{{Cite magazine |last=Burrows |first=Peter |date=April 21, 1997 |title=Power Computing's Power Duo |url=http://www.businessweek.com/1997/16/b3523127.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140430174204/http://www.businessweek.com/1997/16/b3523127.htm |access-date=May 16, 2014 |magazine=Business Week |archivedate=April 30, 2014}}</ref> and announced its PowerTrip line of Wintel laptop computers. However, regulatory delays to the Apple deal, delaying receipt of the agreed funds, and lawsuits from suppliers forced the company to downsize,<ref name="techmonitor19971103_power">{{ cite web | url=https://www.techmonitor.ai/technology/power_computing_axes_150_jobs_and_faces_42m_lawsuit | title=Power Computing Axes 150 Jobs and Faces $42M Lawsuit | website=Tech Monitor | date=3 November 1997 | access-date=12 February 2025 }}</ref> and with the PowerTrip line subsequently cancelled due to "lacklustre sales and manufacturing problems", the company was described as being in "dire straits", looking "to find a new way to sell, manufacture and service" and hoping to introduce a new strategy and new products in the spring of 1998.<ref name="computerworld19971215_powercomputing">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/computerworld3150unse/page/61/mode/1up | title=Power Computing bows out | magazine=Computerworld | last1=Girard | first1=Kim | date=15 December 1997 | access-date=12 February 2025 | pages=61,63 }}</ref>

Parts shortages forced the company to halt production in 1997, and by late January 1998, the last of Power Computing's physical assets were auctioned off.<ref name="linzmayer2004">{{ cite book | last1=Linzmayer | first1=Owen W. | title=Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Computer Company | publisher=No Starch Press | date=2004 | pages=255–57 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cultofmac.com/464763/mac-clone-maker-closes-shop/|title = Today in Apple history: Mac clone-maker closes shop|date = 31 January 2021}}</ref> Power Computing shareholders were mailed Apple Computer shares representing their ''pro rata'' share in the now-defunct corporation.{{citation needed | date=February 2025 | reason=These sources don't mention anything about Power Computing shareholders, although one might assume that as part of the original deal, they did receive Apple stock.}}

Anyone who had a Power Computing Macintosh clone was given a free upgrade up to Mac OS 8.1 by Apple under the Power Computing name. Ironically, this made Power Computing one of two Macintosh clones to get a Mac OS 8 upgrade disk (the other was [[UMAX Technologies|UMAX]], which got it under an agreement with Apple). Apple continued to provide technical support for any Power Computing machine until December 31, 2004.