Editing Power Mac G4 Cube (section)

===Sales===
The introduction of the Cube did not fit with the focused product lineup Jobs had introduced since his return to Apple, leaving it without a clear audience.<ref name="wired-20 years ago g4 cube">{{cite magazine|author=Levy, Steven|authorlink=Steven Levy|date=July 24, 2020|url=https://www.wired.com/story/20-years-ago-steve-jobs-built-the-coolest-computer-ever-it-bombed/|title=20 Years Ago, Steve Jobs Built the 'Coolest Computer Ever.' It Bombed|magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]|publisher=Condé Nast Publications|access-date=October 7, 2020|archive-date=October 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201002001748/https://www.wired.com/story/20-years-ago-steve-jobs-built-the-coolest-computer-ever-it-bombed/|url-status=live}}</ref> It was as expensive as a similarly equipped Power Mac, but without extra room for more storage or PCI slots. It was likewise much more expensive than an upgraded consumer iMac.<ref name="arstechnica-macworld 2000 wrapup">{{cite web|author=Siracusa, John|date=July 28, 2000|url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2000/07/macworld-expo-ny-2000/|title=MacWorld Expo NY 2000|website=[[Ars Technica]]|publisher=Condé Nast Publications|pages=1–8|access-date=October 8, 2020|archive-date=March 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304161519/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2000/07/macworld-expo-ny-2000/|url-status=live}}</ref> Jobs imagined that creative professionals and designers would want one, and that the product was so great that it would inform buying patterns.<ref name="wired-20 years ago g4 cube" />

Sales for the Cube were much lower than expected. Returning from the brink of bankruptcy, Apple had eleven profitable quarters before the Cube's announcement,<ref name="newsweek-cube">{{cite web|author=Levy, Steven|authorlink=Steven Levy|date=July 30, 2000|url=https://www.newsweek.com/thinking-inside-box-161537|title=Thinking Inside The Box|work=[[Newsweek]]|publisher=The Washington Post Company|access-date=October 7, 2020|archive-date=October 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004190802/https://www.newsweek.com/thinking-inside-box-161537|url-status=live}}</ref> but Apple's end-of-year financials for 2000 missed predicted revenues by $180{{nbsp}}million.<ref name="macaddict-053" /> Part of the drop in profit was attributed to the Cube, with only one third as many units sold as Apple had expected, creating a $90{{nbsp}}million shortfall in revenue targets. The Cube counted for 29,000 of the Macs Apple shipped in the quarter, compared to 308,000 iMacs. Retailers had excess product, leaving Apple with a large amount of unsold inventory heading into 2001 it had expected to last until March. The computer appealed to high-end customers who wanted a small and sleek design, but Jobs admitted that audience was smaller than expected.<ref name="macaddict-053">{{cite magazine|author=Sammis, Ian|date=January 2001|url=https://archive.org/details/MacAddict-053-200101/mode/2up|title=Get Info; Too Many Cubes|magazine=[[MacLife|MacAddict]]|publisher=Future US|issn=1088-548X|issue=53|page=14}}</ref><ref name="cnet-g4 cube expectations">{{cite web|date=January 2, 2002|url=https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-we-expected-to-sell-3-times-more-cubes/|title=Apple: We expected to sell 3 times more Cubes|website=[[CNET]]|publisher=RedVenture|access-date=November 6, 2020|archive-date=September 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918114618/https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-we-expected-to-sell-3-times-more-cubes/|url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2001, Apple lowered the price on the 500&nbsp;MHz model and added new memory, hard drive, and graphics options.<ref name="cnn-G4 cube drop">{{cite web|last=Gibson|first=Brad|date=February 7, 2001|url=https://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/ptech/02/07/cube.price.cut.idg/index.html|title=Apple lowers price of G4 Cube|publisher=[[CNN]]|access-date=November 5, 2020|archive-date=February 10, 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010210103850/http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/ptech/02/07/cube.price.cut.idg/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> These updates made little difference, and sales continued to decline. In the first quarter of 2001, only 12,000{{nbsp}}units were sold,<ref name="Macworld-cube 10th anniversary">{{cite web|last=Edwards|first=Benj|date=August 12, 2010|url=https://www.macworld.com/article/1153341/cube-10thanniversary.html|title=The Cube at 10: Why Apple's eye-catching desktop flopped|website=[[Macworld]]|publisher=IDG|access-date=November 5, 2020|archive-date=November 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112032405/https://www.macworld.com/article/1153341/cube-10thanniversary.html|url-status=live|issn=0741-8647}}</ref> representing just 1.6% of the company's total computer sales.<ref name="nytimes-cube on ice" />

In addition to the product's high price, the Cube suffered cosmetic issues. Early buyers noticed cracks caused by the injection-molded plastic process. The idea of a design-focused product having aesthetic flaws turned into a negative public relations story for Apple, and dissuaded potential buyers for whom the design was its main appeal.<ref name="Kahney-2014" /><ref name="arstechnica-g4 cube review">{{cite web|author=Siracusa, John|date=October 1, 2000|url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2000/10/g4-cube/|title=G4 Cube & Cinema Display|website=[[Ars Technica]]|publisher=Condé Nast Publications|access-date=November 2, 2020|archive-date=September 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917151835/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2000/10/g4-cube/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Macworld-cube 10th anniversary" /> The Cube's radical departure from a conventional personal computer alienated potential buyers, and exacerbated Apple's struggles in the market competing with the performance of Windows PCs. ''Macworld''{{'}}s Benj Edwards wrote that consumers treated the Cube as "an underpowered, over-expensive toy or [...] an emotionally inaccessible, ultra-geometric gray box suspended in an untouchable glass prison".<ref name="Macworld-cube 10th anniversary" /> The lack of internal expansion and reliance on less-common USB and FireWire peripherals also hurt the computer's chances of success.<ref name="macworld-g4 cube ahead of its time" />

Jobs clearly loved the computer,<ref name="wired-20 years ago g4 cube" /> but was quick to discontinue the underperforming product. On July 3, 2001, an Apple press release made the unusual statement that the computer—rather than being canceled or discontinued—was having its production "suspended indefinitely", due to low demand. Apple did not rule out an upgraded Cube model in the future, but considered it unlikely.<ref name="nytimes-cube on ice">{{cite web|author=Gaither, Chris|date=July 4, 2001|title=Apple Will Halt Production Of Its Cube-Shaped Computer|website=[[The New York Times]]|page=C6|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/04/business/apple-will-halt-production-of-its-cube-shaped-computer.html|access-date=November 6, 2020|archive-date=April 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410144937/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/04/business/apple-will-halt-production-of-its-cube-shaped-computer.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Business journalist [[Karen Blumenthal]] called the Cube the first big failure by Jobs since his return to Apple.<ref name="Blumenthal-2012">{{cite book|last=Blumenthal|first=Karen|authorlink=Karen Blumenthal|year=2012|title=Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different|publisher=Square Fish|isbn=978-1-250-01461-0|pages=204–205}}</ref> Jobs's ability to quickly move on the mistake left the Cube a "blip" in Apple's history, according to Segall—a quickly forgotten failure among other successful innovations.<ref name="Segall-2012" />