Gateway ends direct PC sales
Gateway.com no longer sells Gateway PCs.
The company announced Friday that channel partners and retail outlets, both online and brick-and-mortar, are the only way to get the Gateway brand now. In a statement, company officials said it was to fit Gateway into parent company Acer's model, which has always been heavily dependent on indirect sales.
(Credit:
Gateway)
Gateway was one of the original success stories when it came to selling PCs directly to consumers, though its business model underwent several significant makeovers before it was eventually acquired by Acer in August.
Heavy reliance on direct PC sales has fallen out of favor in the industry. The PC maker that famously made its fortune from the same model was Dell, which also ditched direct-to-consumers-only sales last year.
Gateway products are still available at Best Buy, Circuit City, CompUSA, Costco, HSN, Newegg, Tiger Direct, Office Depot, OfficeMax, and Wal-Mart.
Erica Ogg is a CNET News reporter who covers Apple, HP, Dell, and other PC makers, as well as the consumer electronics industry. She's also one of the hosts of CNET News' Daily Podcast. In her non-work life, she's a history geek, a loyal Dodgers fan, and a mac-and-cheese connoisseur. E-mail Erica. 
- by Renegade Knight July 28, 2008 7:06 AM PDT
- At least I allready lost my money on the takeover and can't loose any more to this stupid decision. Heck they refused to give me a nice stock certificate that said "Gateway" too boot. Too bad. It would have been the only good thing to come out of the Acer deal.
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