January 30, 1996: SUNny Days Ahead?

In 2006, Apple may be a cash flush business with profitable computer and iPod lines adding fuel to the corporate coffers but that wasn't always the situation; Apple has known plenty of tough times.

Perhaps the absolute nadir in the history of Apple was the weeks leading up to a seemingly sure merger with Sun Microsystems. Times and profits were horrible at Apple with the executives regularly making blunders such as under predicting demand or overspending on research that was going, obviously, nowhere. Things were so bleak that consultancy groups were recommending caution for any businesses considering buying Macintoshes. Users were simply worried.

Sun Microsystems was thought to be the ideal company to buy Apple, in part so that Microsoft would not get total control of the internet and also as a springboard for the mass acceptance of Java. The deal was almost done when Apple posted a worse than expected $69 million loss.

Sun came back to the table a month later and people were certain a deal was going to happen. As badly as Apple executives wanted to sell Apple, Sun wouldn't offer anything but a decidedly lowball figure. The public was unaware of how meager the second offer was, and wide speculation followed that Apple would become part of Sun this week in 1996.