The success of Apple's lower-cost consumer models, especially the LC, also led to

cannibalization of their higher priced machines. To address this, management

introduced several new brands, selling largely identical machines at different
price points aimed at different markets. These were the high-end Quadras, the
mid-range Centris line, and the ill-fated Performa series. This led to significant
market confusion, as customers did not understand the difference between
models.[47]

Apple also experimented with a number of other unsuccessful consumer targeted

products during the 1990s, including digital cameras, portable CD audio players,
speakers, video consoles, the eWorld online service, and TV appliances.
Enormous resources were also invested in the problem-plagued Newton division
based on John Sculley's unrealistic market forecasts.[citation needed] Ultimately,
none of these products helped and Apple's market share and stock prices
continued to slide.[citation needed]

Through this period, Microsoft continued to gain market share with Windows by
focusing on delivering software to cheap commodity personal computers, while
Apple was delivering a richly engineered but expensive experience.[48] Apple
relied on high profit margins and never developed a clear response; instead, they
sued Microsoft for using a GUI similar to the Apple Lisa in Apple Computer, Inc. v.
Microsoft Corp..[49] The lawsuit dragged on for years before it was finally
dismissed. At this time, a series of major product flops and missed deadlines
sullied Apple's reputation, and Sculley was replaced as CEO by Michael Spindler.
[50]

The Newton was Apple's first foray into the PDA markets, as well as one of the
first in the industry. Despite being a financial flop at the time of its release, it
helped pave the way for the PalmPilot and Apple's own iPhone and iPad in the
future.
By the early 1990s, Apple was developing alternative platforms to the Macintosh,
such as A/UX. The Macintosh platform itself was becoming outdated because it
was not built for multitasking and because several important software routines
were programmed directly into the hardware. In addition, Apple was facing
competition from OS/2 and UNIX vendors such as Sun Microsystems. The
Macintosh would need to be replaced by a new platform or reworked to run on
more powerful hardware.[51]

In 1994, Apple allied with IBM and Motorola in the AIM alliance with the goal of
creating a new computing platform (the PowerPC Reference Platform), which
would use IBM and Motorola hardware coupled with Apple software. The AIM
alliance hoped that PReP's performance and Apple's software would leave the PC
far behind and thus counter Microsoft. The same year, Apple introduced the
Power Macintosh, the first of many Apple computers to use Motorola's PowerPC
processor.[52]

In 1996, Spindler was replaced by Gil Amelio as CEO. Amelio made numerous
changes at Apple, including extensive layoffs and cut costs.[53] After numerous
failed attempts to improve Mac OS, first with the Taligent project and later with
Copland and Gershwin, Amelio chose to purchase NeXT and its NeXTSTEP
operating system and bring Steve Jobs back to Apple.