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

To: Lynn who wrote (50431)	2/28/1999 10:04:00 AM
From: hlpinout	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

Good morning Lynn, victor brought that out also this morning and seemed to agree with your comments. Talking about "throwing out the baby with the bath water". VARs have been tentative ever since CPQ announced direct sales but have been more vocal since early January (probably due to seeing sales changes at Christmas). Something apparently finally got management's attention and I believe was in part responsible for the cease and desist order. hio

To: Lynn who wrote (50431)	2/28/1999 8:11:00 PM
From: E_K_S	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 97611

Hi Lynn - Compaq needs to look at it's overall worldwide pricing procedures, especially when bidding on large multi-international accounts. Below is a post from another message board that clearly summarizes some areas that COMPAQ needs to improve on. I sure hope COMPAQ's management can become an innovator in this area like Dell....especially with those service contracts! "... #147 of 153. Subject: STRONG BUY - FROM DOWNUNDER Posted by CHILLI on Fri 26 Feb '99 (02:24 PM) G'day Mates Mark Bourne @ 40 - investor from DOWNUNDER in Melbourne Australia. You guys and gals make a joke out of the Australian market. In Australia we go oooohhhhhhh aaaaahhh and get really excited when an Aust stock goes up 50 cents, and think the world has come to an end when it goes down 50 cents. A $20 stock is a high flyer here. The US market is more MY MARKET. I bought into DELL (THANKS TO ETRADE!!!)before last split at a cost base, today - $53. I am 49.5% in front with my initial buy. I have picked up more along the way and now have 1000 - soon to be 2000. Fellow Australian (Melbourne) investors said I was MMMAAADDD!!! (don't forget $USD = ~$AUD 0.64 so we are talking serious Ausy $'s here) - now they don't and are amazed that there is yet another split any day now. Aust stocks generally never split - never heard of the word here. It is a toy market here in comparison. An days trading in DELL has been on many days more than the whole of the AUST market trade! I am kicking myself that I did not buy DELL back in 95 when my small 3 person team was negotiating a GLOBAL contract between DELL and my BANK that I work for. At the time my YANKY boss Richard Speer from Sunriver OR said "Mark - DELL will be going places - BUY DELL" - but I did not have the tools to do so as I do today + the local brokers talked me out of it!!! Dell back then was ~$13 - OOOHHHH the splits I have missed!!! Interestingly - back then DELL's first cut of the contract was just under $AUD2K better than COMPAQ, with IBM right out of the picture. IBM just sat back expecting the contract their way as they were so entrenched in the bank. Guess what - they didn't get it and you should of heard them and seen their faces. Prices at both COMPAQ and IBM were quickly rejigged but still could not meet DELL's. DELL was very accomodating... We asked for a GLOBAL configuration in our 43 country presence, $USD price and $USD25 shipped anywhere in the world. GUESS WHAT - DELL did it. COMPAQ - well they had all sorts of mix and match of boxes. India had all sorts of rubbish. Every country had a different price, pricing was almost impossible to get as it had to come from all the different sorts of resellers. Maintenance contracts were almost impossible with COMPAQ. DELL was 1 beautiful package. Several of our countries - especially the Pacific Islands, DELL had no presence but could deliver there. We found vendors who were selling us local boxes and suggested to DELL that they both get together and talk about providing local support. Some jumped on board immediately, some we had to dangle a 10-15% premium (AT OUR OWN SUGGESTION)as in Papua New Guinea for them to take up the offer. COMPAQ suggestion was that they would ship out of Aust!!! - no-way - Aust does not make the market in PC's - USA does, therefore we want US pricing. What I am getting at here is that DELL is an innovator - OK - our little team may have played a small part in it - but that is why business should be a partnership. DELL had no representation/presence in some countries but DELL now does because they were willing to listen and saw the $'s. It is all about partnership and for my BANK/DELL it was a WIN/WIN. ANOTHER ISSUE - DELL built us a Corporate Home page within DELL.COM which our team were working with a guy in Penang to build. This was basically NO COST to us and was DELL's first Corporate page outside of the US - if I remember rightly. We were beta testing it when the BANK! said that they did not want it. SORRY DELL but you did put this all to good use - didn't you. THIS IS WHY I BOUGHT DELL AND SO SHOULD THE REST OF YOU WHO ARE JUST THINKING ABOUT IT!!!! DELL ARE TRUE ENTREPRENEUR'S By the way - "MICHEAL DELL" - if you are listening - I was really pissed off when my fellow, so called bankers (who by the way only wanted IBM/COMPAQ until we showed them the savings)went to lunch with you here in Melbourne last year and did not tell me about it - no doubt they claimed the fame for getting you into the bank. Anyway - I am flying the US MARKET & DELL flags here in Melbourne. Regards Mark Bourne...." ==================================================================== I like the idea that Dell even built a corporate Home Page for their customer....Just this little thing left the customer feeling that they got more than they ordered. EKS