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

To: Kenya AA who wrote (48343)	2/16/1999 3:15:00 PM
From: Elwood P. Dowd	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

Compaq Says 1999 Is Its Internet Year By Neil Winton, Science and Technology correspondent LONDON (Reuters) - Compaq Computer Corp. (NYSE:CPQ - news) CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer said Tuesday he wants 1999 to be the year when the world's largest personal computer maker starts to take on leadership of the Internet. ''Our top strategic priority is Internet leadership in the industry,'' Pfeiffer, who is also Compaq's president, said at a news conference. The Houston-based company has a world market share of just under 16 percent, heading International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news), Dell Computer Corp. (Nasdaq:DELL - news), and Hewlett-Packard. Companies like IBM and Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news), the world's leading software company, have staked claims to lead the new business of electronic commerce generated over the Internet, where consumers buy cars, books and CDs using their PCs, or businesses slash costs by automating supply chains. Isn't it a bit late for Compaq to join this battle? ''We are ahead of everybody else,'' Pfeiffer told Reuters in an interview. ''You may say that's just talk, but let me give you the facts. We have not been communicating how strong Compaq is in the total Internet structure.'' He said Compaq products were now all fitted with a so-called Internet button -- press the button and you go straight to the Internet. ''We are the leader now and we are focusing all our business strategies on the Internet. So far we have been very noiseless about this,'' he said. In his earlier presentation, Pfeiffer said Compaq's business strategy called for revenues to hit $50 billion by 2000. ''Analysts predict revenues of about $43.5 billion for 1999, and however ambitious our predictions have been in the past we have always achieved them. ''Fifty billion dollars by 2000, we could possibly exceed that. This is very achievable,'' Pfeiffer said. Compaq has said it plans to float its AltaVista Internet portal site as an initial public offering later this year. Compaq acquired AltaVista as part of its takeover of Digital Equipment Corp. last year. Pfeiffer told a questioner at the news conference that Compaq saw much financial leverage in the planned offering because of the high valuation of Internet stocks. When asked how much the company might be worth, Pfeiffer said: ''Half a billion dollars, a billion dollars, I don't know, they are just numbers.'' ''We pick the timing when we file the application to proceed, and we'll look at the whole Internet market place and stock prices and valuations and so on. We will try and pick the best timing,'' Pfeiffer told Reuters. He said 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. 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. 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.

To: Kenya AA who wrote (48343)	2/16/1999 3:41:00 PM
From: Lynn	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

Definitely. As an aside, I telephoned BellAtlantic a few minutes ago to ask a few questions about their IP service. One thing I wanted to know about was why they charged a "GSP" each month. The woman told me that $2. is paid to IBM for each account because the service is actually being provided by IBM. She said BellAtlantic does not have the ability to give internet access on its own. This came as a real surprise to me. I tried to get into IBMs web site to see if they offered internet service on their own or merely provide other companies, like BellAtlantic, with the facilities necessary---then we had a power failure. I'll check later when I have some time. So, maybe CPQ will pull an IBM in the future and offer internet capabilities to other companies? Lynn