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

To: rupert1 who wrote (54727)	3/24/1999 3:42:00 PM
From: fooledalot	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

victor, I don't know. When I talked with him, Faber seemed a little miffed that the Associated Pests broke the story first. By the way, there could be some serious repercussions with ....ahem....(nasal) channel stuffing with that product. f

To: rupert1 who wrote (54727)	3/24/1999 3:56:00 PM
From: Lynn	Respond to of 97611

Victor: Thank you for pointing me to your earlier posting. I had copied down the thread number for when I catch-up on purely news postings later. What a gas. Lynn P.S. CNBC should pay us royalties if they use our copywritten postings.

To: rupert1 who wrote (54727)	3/24/1999 4:48:00 PM
From: hlpinout	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 97611

COMPAQ: Compaq calls for Dell to come clean in Britain Story Filed: Wednesday, March 24, 1999 4:02 PM EST MAR 24, 1999, M2 Communications - Joe McNally, managing director of Compaq UK and Ireland, called for Dell to "Come Clean" about their UK channel trading practices. Specifically, he exposed how Dell's advertising, which attacks the British distribution industry, says one thing, but Dell then goes out and does something different. The Dell campaign says: "Cut out the middleman. Be direct." Yet Michael Dell and colleagues have been contacting the principals of Britain's major reseller companies. Dell has not only asked them to sell Dell equipment, but also to provide much-needed computer support services for Dell boxes. The reason is, Dell generally do not install, maintain, train, deliver or provide support to customers direct. They tend to use other companies in the UK to do it for them, like Wang and UNISYS. On the other hand, Compaq is open about its distribution channels, which it believes are a better answer for delivering effective solutions in the UK. Compaq has many years of experience working in partnership with companies who provide the full range of customer support and maintenance services. Indeed, this year Compaq will invest over GBP 30 million alone in channel training and development with partners in Britain. The distribution channel includes: systems resellers; resellers; distributors; dealers; retail chains; networking specialists; value added resellers; independent software vendors; systems integrators and alliance partners. The channel in Britain had a 1998 turnover of GBP 5.4 billion; uses two million square feet of space at 175 locations around the UK; and employs some 4,500 people in the UK, 1300 of whom are Compaq-trained as Compaq Accredited Systems Engineers. These people are important to an effective British economy. Compaq has now decided that it is right to advertise and publicise the differences between Dell's UK market distribution model and Compaq's, so that British customers have the full picture and better clarity about the choices available. Compaq's press advertisements feature the famous scissors, first used in Dell's advertising to "cut out the middleman". In going head-to-head against Dell on this issue, the scissors are used to cut out a giant head representing Britain's army of skilled middlemen that Dell say they would like to cut out. Compaq's advertisements say: "What do you cut out when you cut out the middleman? You cut out efficiency, you cut savings, you cut highly trained specialists in hardware and software, in multi-vendor environments, in complex configurations, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year." To ensure that Dell gets the message, Compaq has projected the advertisement on to Dell's headquarters building in Bracknell. Joe McNally, managing director of Compaq UK and Ireland, explains: "In Britain, we want to know: does Dell want to cut out our middlemen, or do they want to continue working with middlemen? Which is it?" He adds: "The real costs of owning and running a typical computer system in the UK are split: 20% for acquisition costs; 80% for the running costs. Common sense tells you that cutting out the people who provide systems integration and networking skills is not bright. That is why Compaq has been such an ardent supporter of the reseller channel throughout our history. "So, our message to them now is: Come clean Mr Dell and stop knocking the resellers of Britain. They deserve better."