Article Abstract:
Compaq, Gateway and Hewlett-Packard, with the notable absence of IBM and Dell, have formed a new online supplier exchange which will standardize the purchasing market for computer parts. The venture also plans to pool resources for component purchases and create channels to sell surplus merchandise. The yet-to-be named venture is funded by $100 million from the three founding companies.
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Article Abstract:
Netpliance is discontinuing it's network "appliance," i-opener as it announces a third quarter loss of $41.9 million and a layoff of 93 jobs. The company sold only 53,000 i-openers and is planning to offer technology to phone and cable companies and develop software with its remaining $76.7 million. Netpliance lost $210 million since its 1999 inception, credited to slow growth of the Internet appliance market, which is now hot with competition.
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Compaq Computer Corp. will buy Shopping.com for $220 million in a bid to make up for lost time and gain a presence as an online retailer of a wide range of consumer goods. Links to Shopping.com will be placed on Alta Vista, the search engine Compaq acquired when it bought Digital Equipment Corp. The plan is for Alta Vista, the tenth most visited site on the Internet, to become a "portal" site and to funnel potential consumers to Shopping.com's 63 "warehouses" of consumer goods. Shopping.com has had a troubled history, but its acquisition frees Compaq of the need to develop the teleshopping software. Analysts are uncertain that Compaq's effort is sufficiently aggressive to make up for lost momentum. It still remains for Compaq to develop the personalized shopping and information services already developed by competitors International Business Machines, Dell Computer Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. on their own retail sites.
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