San Francisco, June 24: Apple Computer Inc. has introduced new Macintosh computers that use its "G5" microprocessor, a design by International Business Machines Corp. that can handle twice as much data at once as traditional PC microchips.
The Cupertino, California-based computer maker also said at a developer conference in San Francisco that its new online music store had sold 5 million song downloads since its inception eight weeks ago, or an average of 625,000 songs a week or more than 89,000 songs a day.
"It looks like it's slowing a little bit, but that was expected," said Rob Enderle, an analyst with market research firm Forrester, of the rate at which online songs are selling.
Apple plans in August to begin selling three models of desktop computers based on the G5 chip, which can manage 64 bits of data at once, compared to 32 bits for traditional home computers.
Chief Executive Steve Jobs told the developers that with the new Macintoshes Apple has topped its main competition, Microsoft Corp. Windows-based PCs, which use chips from Intel Corp. and AMD that run at faster rates -- measured in gigahertz -- than those in current Macintoshes.
Bureau Report