Gateway Says They Won’t Sell Anymore PC’s On Web Site
Gateway stated this week that they will cease selling PC’s on its web site. Instead they will be putting all of their attention on selling them through their third party stores and other online retailers that they are affiliated with.
They have been selling their PC computers through partner retail stores since 2004 - but have had to stop this in order to cut down on costs and to align its business model with their parent company Acer.
Acer last year acquired Gateway for US$710 million in an effort to boost its consumer presence in North America. The change has resulted in some staff cuts, said Lisa Emard, a Gateway spokeswoman. “These reductions have been happening in small waves as the company has methodically evaluated each department and function,” she said.
The change could help Gateway better compete with rivals Hewlett-Packard and Dell, said David Daoud, research manager at IDC. Also, since the indirect model has worked well for Acer, it may be hoping that focusing on the same model can help boost Gateway sales.