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Technology Stocks : Compaq -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Night Writer who wrote (78765)	2/26/2000 6:03:00 PM
From: Night Writer	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

A China-Taiwan war could mar supply chain Feb. 25, 2000 (Electronic Buyers News - CMP via COMTEX) -- When Taiwan's president Lee Teng-hui in July declared that China and Taiwan are no longer parts of the same country, how many purchasers took into account the instability of the region and the possible disruptions a war with China could have on the worldwide supply chain? Not many, I bet. Unless it's affecting our pocket books, most Americans aren't concerned about the political climate outside the States. Sorry, folks, but it's true. Only in September, when Taiwan was struck with an earthquake, was the island's importance to the global electronics-OEM supply chain evident. But because Taiwan's sturdy chip-manufacturing infrastructure was able to recover so quickly from the disaster, the news turned back to the stock market and Intel's twice-delayed Camino chipset. Well, political tensions have been mounting again between China and Taiwan, the world's largest supplier of computer cases, hubs, LAN cards, keyboards, modems, motherboards, power supplies, monitors, and scanners, according to the government-sponsored Market Intelligence Center, Taipei. Taiwan is also home to the world's largest foundries, and almost every semiconductor manufacturer has some or all of its chips made by foundries there. China again has threatened to use force on Taiwan if the island doesn't pursue reunification-a principle that has prevented a war between the two countries for 50 years. The New York Times called it "the bluntest warning yet," and in a cabinet policy white paper issued last week, Washington expressed its "grave concern" over the threat. It wouldn't take much for China to level Taiwan, the center of the global electronics-OEM supply chain. Hewlett-Packard bought nearly $3 billion worth of PC-related products from Taiwan last year, and Compaq spent close to $7 billion. That's a lot of inventory. Although it's unlikely that a war will occur, it's important that all supply-chain managers think about the potential dangers a military attack on the country would have on their suppliers. Contingency plans that include alternative suppliers should have been discussed seven months ago, when Taiwan's Lee enraged China by declaring that relations with the mainland should be conducted on a state-to-state basis. Or five months ago, after last year's earthquake. If you didn't think about it before, think about what a backup plan can do for your business in the event of another disaster. -Ismini Scouras is executive editor at EBN. She can be reached at iscouras@cmp.com. ebnonline.com -0- By: Ismini Scouras Copyright 2000 CMP Media Inc.

To: Night Writer who wrote (78765)	2/27/2000 12:45:00 PM
From: Captain Jack	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

NW-- A national agency I am familiar with has 10s of thousands of boxes, apps, programs etc. CPQ boxes are used for thousands of PCs and are running machinery and building systems. They also have huge contracts with CPQ at this time. This <<"HP officials say the e-Vectra, about a quarter the size of a typical desktop computer, is just that-a reliable PC for business. The e-Vectra offers the full power of a traditional desktop PC and includes some legacy features, such as parallel, serial, and PS/2 ports. "We find that corporate users still require a mix of legacy and nonlegacy," says Michael Cade, HP's Vectra brand manager.">> may cause a change of vendors due to the amount of time it will take and requiements. Ipaq will not immediately work due to cost constraints... a mix of legacy/non-legacy may well be a requirement. Just a guess but is IMO. Many govt agencys, esp frderal, will be on the same path,,,