July 12, 1981: Mac Business Plan Goes Gold
The Mac's first business plan under the leadership of Steve Jobs was crudely produced but full of ambitious sales targets. Macs, the plan plainly stated, would cost $1500, ship in 1982 and sell over 2 million units in less than three years.
The plan was too rosy. The ship date was too optimistic (the Mac wouldn't ship until 1984), the price point was too low (Steve lost a battle with Sculley and the Mac retailed for $2499) and sales projections were fantastically high (it took Apple 4+ years to reach the 2 million sold mark).
Interestingly, because the Mac team thought the Lisa was inelegant to say the least, the business plan did promise a peaceful coexistence with the aforementioned Lisa. It was an unlikely prospect, the machines shared a processor but were software incompatible. People would have a choice: $10,000 for the Lisa or a clever Mac for a fraction of the price. The "Preliminary MACINTOSH BUSINESS PLAN" was published on July 12, 1981.
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Comments
Such a nice little glimpse into the past. I wonder if the business plan is available to review. I would love to take a look at it.
Me too. I would like to take a peek of a historical document such as that one. It would be very nice to look at how their business plan looks like and what is written on it. - Unilife Alan Shortall
Mac business plan goes gold is true.I think some plastic business cards would be very useful.Can you imagine? A mac coming with a business card.