Apple Computer's Irish plant is at the centre of the company's new strategy, it emerged last night. The Cork facility has been secretly manufacturing a fast, portable computer for several weeks. In California, the company said it was relaunching itself in the consumer market with the new portable and a low-end, Internet-ready home computer.

"These new product lines give people what they want most, a lightning fast laptop and a striking new consumer Macintosh," said Mr Steve Jobs, Apple's interim chief executive.

He said the move would build on the firm's return to profitability for the past two financial quarters, after a period of sustained losses.

A spokesman for Apple in Cork said the Irish plant was the company's "centre of excellence" for portable computers. Staffing levels, at 1,800, were at their highest and the facility had been quietly making the new, portable G3 Powerbook for some weeks.

Industry observers suggested Cork might also be involved in the manufacture of a second new product, the iMac, which is to be aimed at users that want a low-price computer still powerful enough to surf the Internet.

Mr Jobs repeatedly compared the microchip in Apple's G3 series to Intel's Pentium series, insisting his company's products were "toasting" those of its rivals.

Analysts said a major part of his task in revitalising the company was to convince customers that Apple's products were sharper and classier than their counterparts.