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Technology Stocks : Intel Corporation (INTC) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Paul Engel who wrote (50159)	3/8/1998 9:23:00 PM
From: Mary Cluney	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Paul,>>>The damage that Compaq did to itself is spreading to Intel and almost everyone else. Remember - when they pushed the sub $1000 PC, every PC segment went for an elevator ride - to the basement.<<< I really don't understand Compaq's rationale in the sub $1000. How much could each sub $1k unit contribute to Compaq's bottom line? $50 or $100 at most? How many phone calls can their customer service department handle from first time users before the $50/$100 turns into a loss. I wouldn't be surprised that on average the first time user will call customer service 2 or 3 time before they have all the components plugged in properly - and then several more calls before the driver for the printer is installed so they can start printing. At least several more calls will need to be fielded before the modem is properly connected to an ISP. At this point they could now direct their phone caller to call their ISP, Microsoft, modem manufacturer, chip maker, and whomever else. Further, I suspect that first time users are not going to have a good experience and that they would try someone else for their next computer. If anything, Compaq will have sullied their reputation with a fickle, low budgeted, first time user. The sub $1k computer could conceivably double the consumer PC market in a highly contracted time frame. But, what is the point? Why did they do it this way? and what does this do to their relationship with an important supplier? Mary