This week’s launch of the new iPad Mini was the latest in a long string of product successes for Apple, but it hasn’t always been so. Here are five Apple product launches that failed to reach orbit.

1. Five Apple failures to launch
This week’s launch of the new iPad Mini
was the latest in a long string of product
successes for Apple, but it hasn’t always
been so.
Here are five Apple product launches that
failed to reach orbit, proving that even
Apple is fallible.
Or, at least, it once was.
By Jeff Jedras
Image courtesy of imagerymajestic / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

2. The Apple Lisa
January 19, 1983
Rumoured to be named for Apple
co-founder Steve Jobs’s
daughter, the Lisa was a PC with a
graphical user interface aimed at
business users.
While technically superior to the
Macintosh in the early 1989s, its
high cost led business users to
choose IBM PCs.

3. iMac Puck Mouse
1998
Released as Apple’s first USB mouse
with the iMac in 1998, it certainly
looked, well, interesting.
The shape was awkward to use though,
and even lead to third-party add-ons to
give the mouse a more traditional
shape.
Two years later, Apple gave up and
returned to a more traditional design.

4. Power Mac G4 Cube
July 2000
The New York Museum of Modern Art
has one of these small form factor Macs
in its collection but not many consumers
do; the G4 Cube was only on the market
from 2000 to 2001.
It suffered from a high price, quality
issues with the case and perception
issues of lower quality than the iMac.
But price and quality aside, it did look
cool.

5. Apple III
May 1980
Another business-focused PC like the
Lisa, the Apple III could be regarded as
the heir to the Apple II.
The Apple III suffered from stability
issues, as well as limited software
availability and a higher price-point than
competitive machines aimed at business
users.

6. iTunes Phone
September 2005
Apple teamed with Motorola in 2005 to
launch the Rokr E1, with Apple-licensed
technology to play music purchased
form iTunes.
It was hampered by a 100-song limit
and a slow transfer time compared to
dedicated Mp3 players.
Motorola was also displeased by the
concurrent launch of the iPod Nano, and
dropped Apple from the Rokr E2.