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Intuit, Apple say all is well
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April 23, 1998: 4:09 p.m. ET
Companies will announce a 'renewed relationship' on heels of Quicken news
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Apple Computer Inc. and Intuit Inc. executives could be scrambling to help each other save face in coming days after a glitch arose in their relationship this week.
On Monday, Intuit dealt Apple a blow when it said it wouldn't develop a new Macintosh version of its flagship Quicken personal finance software program this year.
However, at Wednesday's shareholders meeting Apple's Interim Chief Executive Steve Jobs said the two companies will issue a joint news statement next week regarding a renewed relationship.
Exactly what the two companies will announce isn't known. An Intuit spokesman declined to comment, saying the company won't give details until the official announcement is made.
Analysts, however, speculated that if Quicken has had a sudden change of heart, it's because Apple probably sweetened the deal.
"If you look at the Macintosh sales for Quicken, they haven't just been bad, they've been disastrous," said David Farina, an analyst at William Blair & Co. "There could be some kind of subsidy from Apple, there could be an advertising deal. Maybe they'll put out a light version of Quicken on some machines."
"Someone probably presented another economic scenario to them," said Michael Shonstrom, director of research at Nediger Tucker Bruner. "Intuit isn't producing a new Quicken because it wasn't economically feasible. If they've changed they're mind, it would be because something came to their attention."
Intuit hasn't abandoned the Mac platform altogether. The company said it is still developing new versions of its MacInTax tax software program.
With that in mind, next week's announcement could be nothing more than a way to remind Mac users that Intuit hasn't completely left them out in the cold.
"They generate the majority of their revenues now from the tax programs," said Bill Burnham, an electronic commerce analyst at Piper Jaffray. "Perhaps they're just reiterating their commitment to the Mac platform."
Blair said Intuit may simply be going back to its upgrade schedule of every two or three years instead of every year. But he also mentioned a more practical reason for a joint announcement between the companies.
"Intuit's CEO [Bill Campbell] is on the Apple Board of Directors," he said. "So you could start there."
Intuit (INTU) fell 1-15/16 to 49 in midday trading. Shares of Apple (AAPL) were up 1-1/16 to 28-9/16. 
-- by staff writer John Frederick Moore
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