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To: denni who wrote (61190)	7/26/1998 8:40:00 PM
From: TTOSBT	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

Re: "$95 or more by october 17. we can all have a beer or two and celebrate octoberfest!" Is that beer or Bear? <ggg> TTOSBT

To: denni who wrote (61190)	7/27/1998 1:25:00 AM
From: Jacob Snyder	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 186894

PC Sales Slowed Sharply in 2nd Quarter;(excerpts) July 27, 1998 By DON CLARK Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Sales slowed sharply for most personal-computer makers in the second quarter, as inventory woes and competitive pressures shuffled several companies' market shares. International Data Corp., a market-research firm based in Framingham, Mass., is reporting Monday that world-wide unit shipments of PCs grew just 7% from the second quarter of 1997, down from a 10% growth rate in the first period. IDC estimated sales growth in the U.S. market at 10%, down from 14% growth in the first quarter. Rival researcher Dataquest Inc. is estimating world-wide sales growth in the second quarter at 13.9%, about the same as the first period, with U.S. market growth declining to 12% from 16% during the first quarter. While their aggregate numbers differ, the two firms agree that most PC makers" sales fell from the first quarter. Both also cite a much tighter race for the No. 1 spot in U.S. sales, as fast-moving Dell Computer Inc. pulled nearly abreast of Compaq Computer Corp. International Business Machines Corp., meanwhile, fell out of the top-five ranking for the U.S. market in both firms' estimation. The quarterly numbers are a key signpost for the health of high-tech markets. PC makers are being roiled at the moment by factors that include a shift to sub-$1,000 PCs and some slowdown in end-user demand, especially in some sluggish Asian markets. But the biggest factors in the second quarter were the effects of massive inventory buildups at Compaq, IBM and some of their rivals. Indeed, Compaq chief executive Eckhard Pfeiffer said the latest data misleadingly count his company's throttled-back sales to its distributors, rather than their shipments to end customers. He said Compaq pared shipments by a month's worth of sales in the second quarter to reduce inventory, but estimated that world-wide "sales out" to users were actually up 36% from the year-earlier period, compared to IDC's estimate of 12.1%. While acknowledging that Dell has been catching up lately, Mr. Pfieffer said in an interview that the sales-out numbers show the race between the two Texas companies is far from neck-and-neck. "This is completely misleading," Mr. Pfeiffer said of the data. Analysts at the two firms conceded that a sales-out measure might present a more accurate picture. Nevertheless, they predict Compaq will face an even more bruising battle with Dell, as both companies scrap for bragging rights in the U.S. market. "The two companies are close enough that it's really a horse race at this point," said Scott Miller, an analyst at Dataquest. "They both are going to spend money to try to capture the top spot." "It's a war of attrition now," an H-P spokesman said. "In another year or so, there's going to be three companies left, by the looks of things, that are going to have better than 50% of the market." In addition to the inventory issue, Compaq's Mr. Pfeiffer acknowledged that demand from his company's customers is weaker than last year. He is optimistic, however, that conditions could improve in the second half of the year, driven partly by companies trying to deal with problems caused by the Year 2000 date change. Instead of changing PC software, he said, "there could be a different scenario as many companies say, 'we're just going to replace all of our PCs to deal with the problem.' "