Apple this week is expected to start selling its first Spanish iMac in the United States, marking the first time the company has offered a pre-configured, non-English version of its computers in the great melting pot.
Previously, Apple sold only English language computers in the U.S. or special language kits at extra cost, but "customer demand" has led the company to offer the popular iMac pre-loaded with a Spanish version of the Mac operating system, the company said.
"It's the right time and the right product," explained Apple spokeswoman Nathalie Welch.
Apple is undoubtedly eyeing the large, rapidly growing market of Spanish-speakers.
According to 1997 figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, 32 million Americans, or 11 percent of the 274 million people in the U.S., are of Hispanic origin. Spanish ranks as the second most popular language after English.
Hispanics are also among the fastest growing ethnic group and by 2050 will be a quarter of the U.S. population, according to bureau estimates.
In Apple’s home state of California, the bureau estimates Hispanics are 30 percent of the population, a number that is estimated to grow to more than 50 percent in the next few years.
Welch said Apple has sold Spanish Macs for years but only overseas. They are not suitable for use in the U.S. because of special hardware and software configurations, including things like power supply or network settings configured for a particular country.
"Everything is localized," she said.
In the United States, Spanish Mac users were required to buy a Spanish language kit to adapt English machines. However, Apple has now discontinued the language kits, which were available in nine languages, and included them as a custom-install in Mac OS 9, Welch said.
The Spanish iMac for the U.S. market will come with a full suite of software in Spanish, including Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, Netscape’s Communicator, the Palm Desktop, and Apple’s iMovie video-editing package, Apple officials said.
The machine is available only by calling a sales number found on Apple's website and placing an order with a Spanish-speaking sales representative.
Welch said the company will gauge demand before deciding whether to offer the system in stores.
"We're just evaluating customer demand at the moment," she said.
On the Windows side, Dell has been selling Spanish computers in the U.S. for years, a spokeswoman said. Customers must phone Dell's Latin American sales operation, which is based in Texas, to order a machine.
Likewise, Microsoft has also offered Spanish versions of Windows in the U.S., a spokeswoman said.
