There was also a large re-organization at the top of the company. The Apple III, which came out in the spring of 1980, had turned out a disaster on the marketplace. It was flawed and thousands of early models had to be returned to the company, whose only revenues still came from sales of Apple II. The next project, Lisa, became even more critical to the company’s future. As a result, Apple Computer was re-organized into three new departments: Accessories, Professional Office Systems (which included Lisa), and Personal Computer Systems (Apple II and Apple III). Steve expected to head the POS division, but the board chose the milder and more experienced John Couch. Steve was named chairman of the board instead.

37