Network: Bytes: - Power Computing powering down

Power Computing, the former Mac clone builder that earlier this year started to produce Intel-based Windows notebooks after Apple refused to license its latest Mac OS 8, has stopped selling its Mac clones and is no longer accepting orders for its PC range. According to industry analysts, the once high-flying company - which predicted annual sales of $250m in last June's failed attempt to go public - could wind up by the end of the year. Company officials, however, said that a decision to close has not been made, and that the company is still investigating potential business strategies.

"We sold six months of inventory in two months. At this time, all Power Computing Mac clones are either gone or in the final process of shipping," said John Kraff, a sales representative of Power Computing. "After Apple bought back the Macintosh licence agreement, we announced, took orders for and shipped our new Wintel notebooks. In that transition, we expected to have a change of investors, but the change has not occurred as fast as we had hoped. Early orders and reviews of the new notebooks were great, but due to the situation we are now no longer accepting orders for them."

There have been staff lay-offs and the company was reputedly able to ship only 150 notebooks out of 1,000 orders after the systems were introduced. The company also faces a lawsuit by TCI Manufacturing, a Canadian-owned company based in Taiwan, seeking nearly $42m in damages over an alleged breach of contract. It is claimed that Power Computing refused to compensate TCI for cancelled orders of enclosures and power supply technology that had been custom-designed for the company.

Asked about the prospects of the company trading beyond December, Kraff replied: "We just don't know. Steven Kahng and the board will meet after the first of the year to decide whether the company will stay in business or not, and how it will stay in business if it decides to move forward."