Gateway sells desktops, laptops, workstations and servers via the Internet and telephone. Gateway has introduced their "country stores" offering consumers 'a first hand look' of their products. Gateway is #2 in the direct sales computer market. Gateway's chairman and founder, Ted Waitt owns 44% of the company and his brother, Norm owns 8% of Gateway.

Currently, Compaq is the #1 PC maker in the world with about 12% of the market and is the third largest computer firm in the world. Compaq offers a similar product line to Dell with one difference, Compaq is available in department /computer stores such as Best Buy. Compaq also offers their customers the option to configure/purchas

Dell has always been the innovator in the industry. Even their first offering, 286 computers, had added features like Smart-Vu windows. Dell is constantly developing new products based on new and evolving technology and the market's acceptance of those products. Dell continues to increase staff and funding in their Research & Development organization. Dell's growth is driven by their continued sales efforts to win new customer accounts through aggressive pricing actions and to increase market penetration of new and higher-end products. Dell has been very successful with the production of desktops featuring the Pentium Pro and Pentium II processors.

quirements and pricing. In the near future, the system will be tied to all of Dell's suppliers' factories throughout the world.

Dell has aligned itself with Intel in offering bleeding edge and leading edge technology. For those who can afford it, Dell continues to offer high-end PCs with the fastest chip available from Intel. The high price tag instantly identifies this option as the bleeding edge. Over the course of a few months, the price of the high-end product drops a few thousand dollars. The price drop begins to slow as newer and faster PCs are introduced. Dell continues this method for system components as well. CD-ROM drives were first introduced in high-end configurations and gradually became a standard feature of all desktops. Faster speed CD-ROM drives and now DVD players follow the path. Dell's high level of (JIT) inventory control enables them to minimize excess inventory and reduce the costs associated with declining inventory values and obsolescence. In this manner, Dell is able to meet the needs of customers ranging from bleeding to leading edge technologies.

Electronic commerce (E-commerce) is one area that is early in the maturity process. Only recently, have all the top vendors established web sites that allow user configuration and purchasing. Dell and Gateway offer the highest level of customization for buyers. However, there still remain many open issues involving taxation, customs, government regulation, fraud, security, privacy, integrity, authentication, and availability to the end-user.

Value-added worth: Fundamentally, Dell sells computers that are extremely valuable to all primary and support activities of a business. Dell's use of quality components and competitive pricing strategy makes them a very attractive vendor. Dell's "Direct" approach allows them to bypass the middleman, who adds little value to the products, yet charges a substantial markup to sell PCs to end-users. Dell also offers a wide range of award-winning, value-added services, such as factory integration of proprietary hardware and software, leasing and installation, warranty coverage, mass customization, online resources and end-user support. Dell is especially committed to helping save time and money in the procurement activities of its customers. Dell has created Internet-based Premier Pages. These pages are customized, password-protected extranet sites that Dell creates for its corporate and public-sector customers such as Ford Motor and Shell Oil. Premier Pages provides one-stop access to simplified purchasing, purchase history reporting, order status, and help desk support. Dell also offers its largest customers a paperless purchase order system.

IBM, like Hewlett-Packard, offers a wider range of products and services compared to Dell or Gateway and is the #1 hardware company in the world. IBM is the #2 software company (Microsoft is #1). IBM offers computers via the Internet but their selection and upgrades are limited. IBM owns Lotus Notes and offers a vast array of other products and services.

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