So for $710 million, Acer bought Gateway – the same company that was worth $7 billion back in 1997 and purchased eMachines in 2004. Its fall from grace is a testament to the importance of good management and an even better business model.
From the Gateway Country retail stores that didn’t actually stock computers to a brief blip in the plasma television and consumer electronics game to big-box retail distribution, it seems that Gateway may have finally found what it needs most. Focus and direction.
For Acer, the acquisition was part Gateway’s-an-established-brand but also part stop-Lenovo-from-expanding-too-much. Gateway has first dibs on buying Packard Bell, the company Lenovo wanted to buy. Acer and Lenovo are big competitors and now Acer’s going to be able to keep Packard Bell safely out of Lenovo’s hands.
Acer president Gianfranco Lanci says that the Gateway brand won’t change. In fact, it’ll expand. It remains to be seen whether or not the name will play internationally, though, thanks to it’s fair-to-middling reputation here.
Gateway Acquisition Helps Acer; But Will it Help Gateway? [Wired Blogs]
Great post.
What an amazing story. Don’t we all remember the buzz Gateway had at one point. They owned the home pc market, and at one point were rumored to be close to merging with Dell.
Gateway balked, and Dell destroyed them, while Gateway destroyed themselves with the Gateway country stores, horrible customer service, and management upheaval. Ponytailed Ted Waitt took the money and ran.
What a way to eliminate a brand.
I’m not convinced Acer will be able to do anything creative with Gateway.
People are fighting over the Packard Bell name? Wasn’t this the copany that when you called tech support they said “what type of computer are you using…. Oh well there’s your problem!” I owned a Packard Bell (well my parents did I was 10) and it was a POS – Maybe with Acer, Packard Bell and Emachines they can have the holy trinty of shit PC’s.
Packard Bell and Gateway – blahh. Acer – no opinion.