Steve,this article indicated that the date of the announcement
was used to correspond to the 1 year date of the DEC merger
announcement. May have been a smoke screen but the statement was
by EP.
(01/26/99, 1:02 p.m. ET)
By Joe Wilcox, Computer Reseller News
Compaq spun off its AltaVista online search engine
Tuesday as a separate company and plans a public
offering of the new AltaVista Co.
Rod Schrock, formerly senior
vice president of Compaq's
consumer-product group, will
run the Palo Alto, Calif.,
organization. Schrock is best
known for successfully
revitalizing Compaq's
consumer division.
Schrock's group
Internet-enabled Compaq Presario PCs in the third and
fourth quarters by introducing Internet keyboards and
ADSL modems. The Presario 5170 and 5150 were
the top-selling retail PCs during December, according
to PC Data, in Reston, Va.
Compaq acquired AltaVista when it bought Digital
Equipment. Compaq chose Jan. 26 to announce the
AltaVista Co. because it is the one-year anniversary of
the Compaq-Digital merger announcement, said
Compaq CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer.
Pfeiffer identified three basic reasons for spinning off
AltaVista. "Success in the Internet market requires a
different business model, one built around speed, agility,
and an unwavering focus on what customers want in
terms of information and services on the Internet," he
said.
Pfeiffer also emphasized the importance of delivering
superior search and shopping services. "We will [also]
unlock AltaVista's tremendous value to shareholders,"
through the public offering, Pfeiffer said.
He also revealed a technology-sharing agreement with
Microsoft Network that would make AltaVista the
"primary search engine powering MSN." Under the
agreement, AltaVista users would also get an AltaVista
branded version of Microsoft HotMail and future
Internet messaging technologies.
Last week, Houston-based Compaq courted other
content providers and at one point, discussed a merger
with Timer Warner, said one source close to the
negotiations.
Compaq's CEO made it clear the Internet would
increasingly play an important role in the company's
strategy moving forward, including promoting, selling,
and delivering Compaq products and services via the
Web using Compaq's website "to deliver superior value
to our customers."
"We will make most of our consumer and commercial
PCs Internet-ready, including direct one-button access
to the Internet e-commerce and e-services," Pfeiffer
said.
Compaq plans to generate revenue through online sales
and offer customized services to consumer and
commercial customers, Pfeiffer said.
Tuesday's announcement follows by little more than two
weeks Compaq's agreement to acquire shopping.com.
At that time, Compaq executives said AltaVista would
provide the back-end services and operations for
shopping.com.
"The Internet today is a lot more than just computers.
It's about information and services," Pfeiffer said. The
CEO said he estimated the market for Internet content
and services to reach $170 billion by 2002. "That will
make it larger than the entire PC industry today," he
said.
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