Gateway 2000 is a relatively young company founded during 1985 by
CEO and chaiman Ted Waitt, with business partner Mike Hammond,
currently vice president of Gateway 2000. A recent poll indicated
Ted Waitt was the 8th richest person in computing with a personal
fortune of over $2.83 billion.
The two started by selling hardware peripherals and software to
people who owned Texas Instruments personal computers. By placing
ads in computer-related publications and selling their products
directly to end users, generating $100,000 revenue in their first
four months of business.
In 1987 the business changed again, with the recognition that
customers would buy a configured PC if it was sold for the right
price. This resulted in their sales rocketing through the roof,
jumping by over $10 million in one year and beginning a rapid
expansion, as the extract from their web site shows.
| Year |
Profits |
| 1987 |
1.5 million |
| 1988 |
12 million |
| 1989 |
70 million |
| 1990 |
275 million |
| 1991 |
626 million |
| 1992 |
1.1billion |
| 1993 |
1.7 billion |
| 1994 |
2.7 billion |
| 1995 |
3.7 billion |
| 1996 |
5 billion |
| 1997 |
- |
In 1993, Gateway became a publicly traded company and expanded
beyond its headquarters in North Sioux City opening a customer
hardware support facility in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The company
launched its first international effort through the establishment
of a direct marketing and manufacturing operation in Ireland in
October 1993. Continuing its U.S. expansion, Gateway opened a sales
and customer support facility in Kansas City, Missouri, in November
1994. That year, Gateway expanded its worldwide presence with
showrooms in France and Germany and has since added another
showroom in Germany, as well as Japan and the U.K. In August 1995,
Gateway acquired Osborne Computer of Sydney, Australia, and began
selling to the Australian market. In September of 1995, the company
announced plans to build its third United States manufacturing
facility in Hampton, Virginia. Manufacturing operations began there
in July 1996, and in December 1996 the company announced plans to
add a technical support call center in Hampton as well. In December
of 1995, Gateway opened a manufacturing facility in Malacca,
Malaysia. This facility manufactures Gateway desktop systems and
serves the growing Asian/Pacific markets. In March 1997, the
company made an offer to acquire the assets of AMIGA Technologies,
GmbH, including all patents, trademarks and trade names. In April
1997, Gateway announced a planned expansion of its Hampton
manufacturing facility that will increase production capacity by 50
percent. Construction is scheduled to be completed by August
1997.
Why the cow obsession?
The cow represents Ted Waitt's past. As a fifth generation
Midwesterner, he grew up in a family atmosphere that encouraged
entrepreneurship. As he has commented in the past, the previous
four generations of Waitts were cattlemen, a breed known for their
independent, risk-taking approach to business.
Destination
 The precursor to the Amiga N.G. Gateway introduced the
Destination Big Screen PC/TV/TV in 1996. Based upon a Pentium
processor, it combined a computer with a high-quality, big-screen
television. Of course, the Amiga has been doing that since 1985.
The Destination is seen as the first convergence product in the
industry.
Gateway and Amiga: Two girls together
Besides the obvious links, both companies have a feminine image. As
most users know, Amiga is Spanish for female friend. The cow, that
represents Gateway products is also female. A strange link but an
interesting one all the same.
Gateway 2000, minus the 2000
In April 1998, Gateway dropped the 2000 from its name. The obvious
reason being that 2000 no longer sounds futuristic.
BACK
|
