Monday, April 11, 2005

A federal appeals court this week upheld a lower court decision that Apple Computer investors cannot sue the company over the fact that the Power Mac G4 Cube and other products didn't live up to Apple expectations.

The attempted class action suit, filed on behalf of those who purchased Apple shares between July 19 and Sept. 28 of 2000, also alleged that Apple knew some of its sales projections were false at the time they made them, a charge the appeals court said was not supported by the facts presented in the case.

The suit referred specifically to projections made in the summer of 2000 by Apple's then-CFO Fred Anderson that Apple sales would grow that quarter by 10 percent. It also cites comments by former controller and current CFO Peter Oppenheimer that a transition in Apple's education sales force was "progressing nicely." Apple later reported sales that fell short of expectations and said its sales force transition had been more difficult than it anticipated.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday that companies are to be given leeway because forecasts are by their nature only estimates.