Xserve Canceled Because Of Poor Sales, Says Steve Jobs E-Mail

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Last week, a note on Apple’s webstore informed customers that Apple would stop selling their 1U rackmount servers, the Xserve. Little reason was given to Xserve customers, other than a handy PDF guide that shows you how to transition to Mac Pros or Mac Minis running Snow Leopard Server. Now, according to an alleged e-mail from Steve Jobs, it’s because of poor sales.

French website MacGeneration published an e-mail that a reader allegedly sent to Steve Jobs. In broken English, the French Apple fan basically said that he lives an all Apple life and he’s broken without the Xserve. Steve’s reply?

Hardly anyone was buying them.

Sent from my iPhone

And that’s not hard to imagine, really. While Apple gave an awesome presentation when they first unveiled Xserve in 2002 and talked about the dream of an all-Mac workplace, in reality, it’s hard to imagine budget-strapped IT departments jumping for the pricey servers, unless they specifically set out to be an all-Mac workplace.

The cancellation of the Xserve line is pretty symbolic thought. Especially in the post-iPod era, Apple really has been moving away from being a computer company to an electronics company (not really groundbreaking analysis, I know.) Computer companies like Dell and HP make servers, while electronics companies like Samsung and Sony don’t.

Is anybody going to miss the Xserve? Will using the Mac Pro or Mac Mini as a server fill your needs? Tell us your take in the comment section.