Gateway names new CFO

Gateway has appointed Roderick Sherwood III to become its new chief financial officer as the PC company continues to rebuild itself.

Sherwood will take over on Oct. 1 for Joseph Burke, who became Gateway's CFO during a massive management shakeup in January 2001. Sherwood, who has held a variety of financial positions with different companies, most recently served as CFO of Loudcloud, now Opsware, which specializes in information technology services.

Burke, meanwhile, will become senior vice president of business development for Gateway. He has been commuting from his home in North Carolina to Gateway's San Diego area headquarters for more than a year, said CEO Ted Waitt on a conference call.

Once one of the fastest growing PC makers in the world, Gateway has seen its market share plummet since the PC slowdown began in the summer of 2000. Since then, the Poway, Calif.-based manufacturer has pulled out of foreign markets, revamped many of its product lines and business processes, and changed its entire management team.

Recently, Gateway has tried to gain market share by undercutting competitors in terms of price. Since the beginning of the year, the company has sold PC and PC bundles that were roughly equivalent to computers from Apple Computer, but for $200 to $300 less.

In a conference call, Waitt also tried to dampen rumors about any impending mergers for Gateway. "We have discussions with all sorts of people," Waitt said.