Is Compaq Eyeing Gateway 2000?Computer Reseller News Online (http://www.crn.com) Reveals Compaq Has Been in Negotiations to Buy Direct Marketer Gateway 2000 Inc.PRNewswire According to an article posted on CRN Online (http://www.crn.com/) today, sources close to Compaq Computer Corp. reveal that Compaq has been in negotiations to buy direct marketer Gateway 2000 Inc. CRN Online learned of the negotiations after direct marketer Micron Technology Inc. last week issued a press release indicating that it had preliminary discussions with Compaq. Micron, however, stated last Friday that it was not "currently engaged in active discussions with Compaq regarding such an acquisition and no offer has been received." Following is additional text from the CRN Online report: Compaq has been grappling for the last several months with restructuring its distribution strategy to counter inroads being made into the corporate market by direct marketers such as Gateway and Dell Computer Corp. An acquisition of Gateway would provide the No. 1 PC maker with a separate company and brand to go directly against Dell. "We know for a fact that Compaq was talking to Micron," said Jeff Matthews, general partner at Ram Partners, a Greenwich, Conn.-based fund. "What we haven't known is how serious they were about cutting a deal with Gateway. It is highly likely that sometime in the next few years Compaq will make a drastic move in terms of channel strategy. It could be something like buying a Gateway." "This would be like throwing down a gauntlet with the channel," said Matthews. "The channel would go ballistic." Gateway finished last year no. 9 in worldwide desktop shipments, capturing 8 percent of the US desktop market during the fourth quarter, according to Dataquest Inc., a San Jose, Calif. market research firm. Gateway claims that over 75 percent of the Fortune 1000 did business with the company last year. Gateway finished 1996 with $5.04 billion in sales, a 37 percent increase from $3.68 billion in 1995. One sign that Compaq is interested in more aggressively attacking the direct market segment is recent comments made by Compaq Chief Executive Eckhard Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer has spoken about what he calls a "satisfaction gap" between customers and the company's present distribution system. In an interview at its Innovate97 Forum last week, Pfeiffer said the company's just announced build to order program with the channel is aimed at countering Dell. "What you're trying to avoid is the inventory buildup," said Pfeiffer. "That doesn't really help anybody. It creates inventory -- carrying costs, it creates potential for price reduction, potential for obsolescence -- all kinds of things. That's what we are eliminating, in other words, eliminating costs and having a much more efficient cycle time." Published by CMP Media Inc., Computer Reseller News has a circulation of more than 115,000 and reaches influential readers from Wall Street to Silicon Valley with the product trends and industry news needed to sell comprehensive technology solutions. CMP Media Inc. provides publishing, marketing and information services to the entire high-technology spectrum -- the builders, sellers and users of technology -- through print and electronic media. All of CMP's publications and online products can be accessed through the company's TechWeb® site on the World Wide Web (http://www.techweb.com/). Along with Computer Reseller News, CMP's other print titles include EE Times, Computer Retail Week, InformationWeek, and Windows Magazine. -0- 04/15/97 SOURCE: CMP Media Inc. CONTACT: Leslie Dunbar of CMP Media, 516-562-7040, ldunbar(at)cmp.com; |