Paul, re: "CompUSA warns", retail sales in general...
Jumping in here, I don't know if anyone has posted this observation. Several weeks ago (pre-Win98), I found myself in the position where I HAD to buy a new home PC, fast. I shopped CompUSA, Curcuit City, Best Buy, Office Depot, Staples. There was literally NO inventory, Best Buy (the largest retailer of computers in the country) had only 2 models with PII's. Staples had a sign up apologizing that the were so lean in selection, that their selection would increase after the introduction of Win98.
My assumption is that, with the current corporate focus on inventory, everyone throughout the channel decided discretion was the better part of valor, and chose not to buy product (especially with the risk that Win98 might have been delayed by our anti-trust friends). The other side of that assumption is that they will now need to build inventory, although I haven't seen it in the stores yet.
John
|
