Apple CEO Steve Jobs told financial analysts at a meeting coinciding with this week’s Macworld Conference & New York that the company would not cut key research spending or marketing of its new “Switch” advertising campaign to convince Windows users to go Mac. Interestingly, he also didn’t deny (nor confirm, for that matter) that Apple might eventually eye Intel chips.
“In hindsight, this downturn is going to look like one hell of a great time to try to gain back some market share for Apple, and that is exactly what we are trying to do right now,” Jobs said, according to a Reuters report. “We play the hand we’re dealt. We don’t see things getting better in the next six months, probably the next nine months, and that’s as far as our headlights go out.”
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Despite a disappointing though still profitable financial quarter and some other bumps in the road, Jobs didn’t back off on his contention that Apple will ride out the economic download through innovation. Salomon Smith Barney cut the rating on Apple stock to neutral from buy, and Apple fell US$2.23 to close at $15.63 on Nasdaq.
Some analysts have also urged Apple to move to microchips from Intel instead of those from Motorola and IBM. Previously, the company has flat out denied such a possibility. However, according to Reuters, at this week’s analyst meeting, Jobs said that Apple first had to finish the transition to the Mac OS X operating system.
“Then we’ll have options, and we like to have options,” he said.