Worldwide distribution is to begin in mid-September at prices ranging from 1,299 to 1,629 dollars (1,075-1,350 euros), the company said at its Apple Expo in the French capital.

A G5 processor fitted behind a flat screen provides speeds of 1.6-1.8 gigahertz for a model inspired by Apple's best-selling iPod MP3 music players.

Hard-core Apple fans greeted video presentations by marketing chief Phil Schiller with enthusiastic applause, welcoming the successor to a model that has sold 7.5 million copies over the past six years.

Prices have been trimmed closer to those of rivals, the result of Apple's strategy for more mass-market appeal, a New York analyst said.

The California-based computer group currently holds about four percent of the global market for desktop units.

Much of iMac's appeal lies in Apple's choice of a pared-down look that can be simplified to just one wire, the power cord.

Buyers opting for a wireless keyboard, mouse and Wi-Fi connection will end up with a minimalist combination that is a far cry from tangled set-ups common until now.

The new model is to be distributed a few months ahead of Apple's Mac OS X "Tiger" operating system, which contains 150 new applications and should be available in early 2005, the company said.

Its "Spotlight" search engine is at the center of the new system, allowing users to quickly find documents among thousands that the hard drive is capable of stocking.

In New York, a research note from Piper Jaffray analysts said the new iMac should create a "wow factor" that could lead to greater demand and lift the company's shares.

On Tuesday, Apple stock lost 0.35 percent to 34 dollars in early trades in New York, while the Nasdaq index was off 0.70 percent overall.

During his presentation in Paris, Schiller shed little light on problems affecting availability of the IBM-made G5 processor, which equips both the iPod and iMac models.

He did however stress the success of Apple's on-line music strategy, saying that iPod has 58 percent of the MP3 market and that the iTunes Music Store had sold five million tracks in its first five weeks of European operation.

The Internet-based service was launched in Britain, France and Germany on June 15 and should be expanded to other European countries in October, Schiller said.

Apple now sells more digital music devices than computers, and according to some analysts, the music sector will eventually account for more than half of all Apple turnover.

All rights reserved. copyright 2018 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.