Gateway Computer

By Brad Kelly

Gateway Inc. has risen from a no name company just a few years ago to become the fifth largest company on the list of best selling computer manufacturers. It sold over 1.27 million products in its last fiscal quarter. Its stock has also been rising fast. It has gone from approximately $20 per share to over $78 since late 1998. That is over 300% increase per share. More recently the stock has fallen slightly because of a shortage of computer chips that was primarily caused by the earthquake in Taiwan that put many chip manufacturers, and later computer producers, behind schedule. Gateway has proposed a deal with Micron so if they were to ever have a shortage of chips, Gateway will be able to buy enough chips from Micron so they would not fall behind schedule and will not have to delay production of new computers.

Gateway has recently overcome an obstacle that has been talked about and feared for many years. This is the problem of Y2K. Gateway has adopted a seven-step plan to overcome Y2K. First, they made sure they are aware of the problem and had knowledge to how the problem would affect them. Step two was to find and identify the computers, systems, and technology that may be affected. Step three was to assess and review these components for Y2K compliance and to find how they would be affected by the Y2K i

ssue. Step four was planning and finding technical solutions and working to fix each system. Step five included replacement of outdated programs and finishing programming to upgrade the problematical software. Step six is testing and compliance validation, which includes testing each product followed by another internal check. Finally, Gateway must implement the fixed systems, computers, and technology back into the business world while monitoring their progress through an installed monitoring system. With this plan, most of which is already in effect, Gateway believes that it can safely navigate Y2K, yet only time will show whether the replaced systems will be able to work through Y2K without hindrance.

With Gateway’s stock experiencing a slight dip and the impending worldwide Y2K dilemma that will cause many people to replace their earlier computers, now might be a good time to buy Gateway stock. At the rate they are going, the stock value may once again triple by next year.