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Apple refocuses on key markets

Jobs set about revitalizing the company. He quickly announced an alliance with erstwhile foe Microsoft; ended a half-hearted (and profit-draining) program to license the Mac OS; streamlined what had become a confusing product line to focus on the company's traditional markets of education, publishing, and consumers; and helped oversee the introduction of more affordable computers, notably the distinctively designed all-in-one iMac.

Before the introduction of the iMac in 1998, all Macs were built with a special read-only memory (ROM) chip that contained part of Apple's operating system and enabled the Mac OS to run only on particular machines. The new machine, based in part on the scuttled CHRP design, with PC-standard memory and peripheral interface, was a continuation of Apple's shift away from hardware-specific, or proprietary, standards. With built-in high-speed networking capabilities, the iMac was designed to revive Apple's consumer and educational market sales.

The iMac quickly became the all-time best-selling Mac and lifted Apple's U.S. market share from a record low of 2.6 percent in December 1997 to roughly 13.5 percent in August 1998. Moreover, Apple had a profitable fiscal year in 1998, its first since 1995.