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

To: Jason W. France who wrote (21958)	3/15/1998 11:03:00 PM
From: Richard Ruscio	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

Jason, I'm new to posting here (taken by a 1 month trial), but I've been reading this thread for at least 4 digits now. There is a subject that's never been discussed, that I believe is relevant: channel, not manufacturing. Dell is a channel for computers to Corporate customers, that happens to do some final assembly. That channel happens to be VERY direct - you call / post to Dell, and they fill the order. Compaq, with Tandem and DEC, is several channels. VERY direct (Compaq web site), traditional direct (sales people / account reps), traditional 2 tier indirect (to superstore retail and to Corporate customers), traditional 1 tier indirect (via Radio Shack). Compaq's product mix aside, it seems to me that the BRANDS "Compaq", "Tandem" and "DEC" mean very specific things to very specific customers - Compaq to consumers, Tandem to serious / significant system builders, DEC to the more usual Corporate customer. Given this line up of channels, with the proper product mix in each - even if they're the same guts / different labels - it looks to me like Compaq can not only service all 4 of the major channel takers, but they have the chance to slight the 2 tier indirect - where the inventory really lives. But hey, I'm new here. rr

To: Jason W. France who wrote (21958)	3/16/1998 12:25:00 AM
From: ed	Respond to of 97611

I should said " You can not sell the nuch complex systems with direct sale model unless you have a strong service group" . I was pointing to DELL. If DELL do not have a strong service group, they can sell the PCs with the direct sale model but not the complex systems. Now, I see some big events will happen in the computer industry, MSFT , CPQ divorce with INTEL. MSFT, CPQ, AMD get married. CPQ held ALPHA at high end, and AMD at low and middles. IBM, CPQ will adopt AMD , and help it to grow up. INTEL may reenter the PC business with its own OS.