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

To: Kenya AA who wrote (48327)	2/16/1999 12:42:00 PM
From: Elwood P. Dowd	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 97611

Tuesday February 16 12:31 PM ET Compaq Computer Shrugs Off Y2K Sales Threat LONDON (Reuters) - Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news), the world's biggest personal computer maker, said Tuesday it did not expect to see any weakness in its sales as a result of distortions in demand caused by the millennium computer bug. Eckhard Pfeiffer, president and chief executive officer of Houston-based Compaq, told a news conference he expected demand for personal computers from big corporations to drive sales worldwide in the first half of 1999. ''There are lots of companies out there that still need to buy our products to become year 2000 compliant,'' Pfeiffer said, answering a question. He said first half demand from large companies would decline but be taken up in the second half by smaller businesses, which had left millennium computer bug compliance efforts to the last minute. The fourth quarter would be boosted by seasonal consumer buying. Last month software giant Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) said it was concerned that a surge in sales it recorded in the final quarter of 1998 might represent an unsustainable bubble, provoked by a corporate scramble to fight the millennium bug. Experts worry that many of the world's computers may crash or churn out unreliable data because they are unable to handle the date change from 1999 to 2000. ''I don't expect any major impact on our sales,'' Pfeiffer said. He told the press conference that Compaq's strategy in 1999 would be to embrace the Internet. ''Our top strategic priority is Internet leadership in the industry. We want to improve Compaq's share of the Internet (business) and unlock some financial value for our shareholders,'' Pfeiffer said in his prepared remarks. He declined to give details about plans to float its AltaVista Internet portal site. Compaq has said it plans to float AltaVista in an initial public offering later this year. The timing would be determined by the success of other Internet stocks. Pfeiffer reiterated Compaq's target to increase revenues to $50 billion by 2000. Compaq revenues hit $31.2 billion in 1998, and should reach $43.5 billion in 1999.