Special Report: Sawtooth Delays

By now everyone is aware of the scuffle which has begun between Apple and Motorola over G4 processor chip shipments. Apple is claiming that they will be reporting a net profit far under analysts expectations for their fourth fiscal quarter due to insufficient shipments of G4 processors during the months of August and September (resulting in a backlog of Power Macintosh G4 orders).

According to sources who contacted AppleInsider on the day the Power Macintosh G4 made its debut, the whole product launch was going to be a giant fiasco. "Motorola never told Apple that they were ready to be shipping these chips in massive quantities beginning August 30th," one source said. "Apple totally ignored this issue and went ahead with the product launch anyway, touting overly optimistic shipping dates."

On the other hand, it is unfair to lay full blame on Apple, for the G4 processor really should have hit the market many moons ago. The G4 processor is as vital to Apple's future as any other factor. Regardless, the confusion seems to be revolving around the blame Apple laid on Motorola for their expected profit loss, and whether or not their profit loss is entirely due to the lack of Power Macintosh G4 systems that shipped.

According to respected analysts and external sources, Apple's profit loss is, indeed, for the most part a result of low Power Macintosh G4 shipments, though how much fault is to be laid on Motorola is another issue entirely. If you've been following reports dating back to the introduction of the Power Macintosh G4, we noted that the Sawtooth logicboard (which ships on the two high-end configurations) was not finalized at the time of its introduction.

Apple has never publicly admitted to this rumor, though many sources have confirmed it. Therefore, it was virtually impossible for Apple to have shipped orders for the two high-end (and most popular) configurations in the first half of September, regardless as to whether they had ample supply of 450 and 500MHz G4 processor from Motorola. If you ask us, both are to blame in their own ways, and in our opinion Apple may have used Motorola as a scapegoat for some of their own problems.

Yesterday a very small percentage of customers who had placed orders for 450MHz systems from the Apple Online Store claimed to have received an e-mail from Apple stating that their machine had been shipped. As can be seen on this thread of the AppleInsider message boards, Apple is in a rush to ship several thousand units before the end of their fiscal year, which is tomorrow. Surprisingly, some of the first individuals to order a Power Mac G4 have not received notice that their machines are shipping, while folks who ordered days or week's later have been.

Currently there is absolutely no word on whether these rumored shipments are actually final rev Sawtooth based systems or "something else." In the meantime, sources are reporting that 450MHz Sawtooth based systems will be shipping in quantity during the later half of October, while the 500MHz units will not begin shipping in volume until November. The holdup on the 500MHz based systems is totally due to the faster processor, which is not in ramped up production at Motorola, yet.

Stay tuned to MacNN.com, as they will keep you updated on the situation on a daily basis.