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

To: hpeace who wrote (10626)	12/9/1997 8:11:00 PM
From: Kai-Uwe	Respond to of 97611

CompUSA will have to have something to do with the article below - I am sure that all the retailers are seeing less $ per unit spent vs. last year due to an average selling price decline - however, unit-wise they all should be up, CPQ as well as other brands. K. Sub-$1,000s Continue Market Infiltration (12/ 9/97; 5:00 PM EST) By Roger C. Lanctot, Computer Retail Week In less than a year, sub-$1,000 systems have gobbled up more than 41 percent of the retail market. And they show no signs of slowing, according to retail sales data from Intelect ASW Marketing Services. PCs selling for less than $1,000 accounted for 41 percent of retail desktop computer sales in October, nearly double the 20 percent of sales during October 1996. For the third quarter this year, the category grabbed 33 percent of desktop sales at retail. Sub-$1,000 PCs were at 28 percent of sales in the second quarter and 21 percent in the first quarter this year. In the fourth quarter of 1996, the class garnered just 12 percent of desktop sales, according to Intelect ASW. "It's a simple decision for suppliers as to whether they want to pursue volume or profits," said Elissa Sandler, vice president at Intelect ASW. More than half of Compaq's retail PC sales came from systems priced at less than $1,000 in October (52 percent) and for the third quarter (53 percent). Those percentages represent huge increases in share from 17 percent in 2Q 1997, 8 percent in 1Q, and 2 percent in 4Q 1996. Packard Bell has also picked up the sub-$1,000 pace with 48 percent of the company's retail PC sales in October coming from systems in that price range. That figure is up from 28 percent in the third quarter, 38 percent in Q2, 30 percent in Q1, and 7 percent in Q4 1996. Hewlett-Packard is the latest player to throw its hat into the sub-$1,000 ring with 33 percent of the company's retail PC sales in October coming from that price range. Prior to October, Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP never saw more than 7 percent of its retail PC sales coming from sub-$1,000 systems. IBM remained on the sidelines in October, one month before the company's first $999 retail PC began appearing in stores. Only 6 percent of IBM retail PC sales come from sub-$1,000 systems. The net result of the aggressive price moves is that Compaq showed an 86 percent increase in October unit sales in the retail channel compared to October 1996 and once again finished as the top supplier of PCs to the retail channel. Packard Bell saw an 11 percent increase vs. the year-ago period and finished the month in second place. HP reinforced its third-place standing with an 85 percent increase in unit sales, while Toshiba, Acer, and IBM all saw sales declines relative to the year-ago month. copyright CMP Media 1997