Can Gateway bounce back on its own?

Gateway Computer has long been something of a Rodney Dangerfield of computing; perceived neither as a cutting-edge company like, say, Apple or Sony, nor as an innovator in supply-chain management like Dell, the best the company could hope for was also-ran status, as a reliable, affordable brand. That might have been enough to make the company the third-largest PC-maker in the U.S., but the company has been on shaky ground for years, with management shakeups, strategic shifts and 13 unprofitable quarters. M&A zine The Daily Deal has a good summary of the company's history and prospects, and sees it as a likely acquisition target for suitors like Acer or Samsung, which could use the brand to bolster their U.S. market share (though we assume Samsung would have to wiggle out of its Dell deal first).

[Donnie @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Gateway grew too fast a few years ago when they opened up Gateway Country stores, their dive into the (rebranded) TV and digital audio player market were, IMHO unnecessary. Their ads from years ago had that warm and fuzzy American hometown factory, well, it's sure cold now. Anyone know the status of the South Dakota factory?

Excessive ambition hurts.

[Donnie @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Gateway grew too fast a few years ago when they opened up Gateway Country stores, their dive into the (rebranded) TV and digital audio player market were, IMHO unnecessary. Their ads from years ago had that warm and fuzzy American hometown factory, well, it's sure cold now. Anyone know the status of the South Dakota factory?

Excessive ambition hurts.

[Galley @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

eMachines has been making rock-solid PCs for several years now. Now we are beginning to see some of that solidness in Gateway's offerings. I have recommended purchases of eMachines to no less than six people, and all of them are very satisfied.

[Khaytsus @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

eMachines are great. Just stock up on power supplies!

[thatguy @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

I work in the retail side and i will tell you
(all) customers think e-machines are the devil-inside and gateway looks kind of cheezy....I think the should work on there image first:then style get some sleek comercials like hp,some of us know thats not what makes a pc but to the target-walmarts of the good ol usa...thats what they need to stay on top.

[Steven @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

We've got 2 Gateways here at work. The cases are horrible and cheap, plus the machine sucks, basically.

They're waiting to be replaced with Dells (ugh).

[Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

I remember back in the early 90's if you had a Gateway it was a bit of a status symbol. I had a Packard Bell(!) at the time and my roommate had a Gateway and he was always making fun of me (justifiably so). My machine was built like a toy and his was at least as beefy as the original IBM 5150. Gateway used to build some mean machines back in the day. Today, they're just like any other commodity PC maker.

[Otto @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Our company has tons of Gateway and the new BTX desktops and widescreen centrino notebooks we just got are beautiful. Great gear all the way around. BTW, their customer service and technical support folks beat Dell hands down, very helpful -- and US-based, I might add.

[brian @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

how bout this for a longshot idea. Apple buys gateway to have a ready supply of PCs running OSx.
Gateway loses so much money anyway, they can be bought quite cheaply. Apple will have some semblance of a distribution channel and grab more market share instantly.

[Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

and now he is dead. he still gets no respect...

[Tim @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Gateway made acceptable machines at one time, but once they were growing too fast, their customer service became the worst in the business. Lots of bit - heads like myself directed people to other brands and kept doing so for years. I guess people got the word so three years now they are unprofitable. Emachines replaced them in my mind, long time ago, and good riddance.

[enzo @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

#8... how bout not?

[MSV @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

I've been selling Dell and Gateway products alongside custom-built PCS and servers for the last 10 years, and for the last five, Gateway's quality has been equal to Dell's, and their service and technical support are *vastly* superior. I can call their business support for a server problem and talk to someone in one of their American call centers in under 3 minutes. If you want that service with Dell, you pay an extra $500-1500 per server just for the privilege.

[LWATCDR @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Gateway made two big mistakes in my book.
1. Was buying Amiga. I was an Amiga user and I thought wow it will have a chance now to compete with the PC and Mac. Why did Gateway buy it and then did nothing with it but sell it for a loss later?
2. Leaveing South Dakota. Compare the cost of living in California to South Dakota or any of the plains states. They should have grown there and maybe have some offices in California for design and marketing.

[chris @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

ok, so business side, gateway quit caring about quality several years ago. They will not last, either bought by a China co. or they will sell e-machine and go away!