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Gateway Inc. is an American computer hardware company based in Irvine, California, that developed, manufactured, supported, and marketed a wide range of personal computers, computer monitors, servers, and computer accessories. It became a well-known brand in 1991 when it started shipping its computer hardware in piebald boxes and for its creative advertising in ''Computer Shopper'' and other magazines. Gateway was acquired by Acer in October 2007, for approximately US$710 million. == History == Gateway was founded on September 5, 1985, on a farm outside Sioux City, Iowa, by Ted Waitt and Mike Hammond. Originally called Gateway 2000, it was one of the first widely successful direct-sales PC companies, utilizing a sales model copied from Dell, and playing up its Iowa roots with low-tech advertisements proclaiming "Computers from Iowa?" Gateway built brand recognition in part by shipping computers in spotted boxes patterned after Holstein cow markings. In 1989, Gateway moved its corporate offices and production facilities to North Sioux City, South Dakota. In line with the Holstein cow mascot, Gateway opened a chain of ''farm-styled'' retail stores called Gateway Country Stores, mostly in suburban areas across the United States. It dropped the "2000" from its name on October 31, 1998. Gateway became a leading manufacturer of personal computers and was a pioneer in developing and engineering several products that continued to move Windows-based computing forward throughout its history. In the early nineties, Gateway 2000 introduced one of the first practical portable computers, the Nomad. Shortly thereafter, the first practical Windows sub-notebook, the Handbook, became standard issue to reporters at the ''Washington Post''. With the assistance of Toshiba Corporation, Gateway 2000 released the 486-based sub-notebook the Liberty, and one of the first industry standard Pentium-based notebooks, the Solo. Both the Handbook and the Solo competed directly with Apple's Newton and PowerBook models. In 1997, Gateway 2000 released The Destination, the first version of a smart TV, which included a 32-inch monitor and a Harmon Kardon surround sound stereo. The $7500 system had a shipping weight of over 300 lbs. A pet project of Waitt's known by some employees as the Lisa-Nation, a reference to Steve Jobs early Apple Computer failure, Gateway tried to partner with east coast electronics retailer Nobody Beats the Wiz to market the product, and was thought to be one of the primary reasons for proliferation of Gateway Country Stores which, many believe was the reason for the company's ultimate failure. Gateway 2000 was also an innovator in low-end computers with the first sub-$1,000 name-brand PC, the all-in-one Astro, which looked so similar to an iMac it was criticized as being a copy. With the Astro's introduction, Gateway also introduced Gateway for All, the industry's first sub-prime financing program. Throughout its history, Gateway attempted to move the stodgy IBM PC model in more home consumer-friendly machine. Gateway was the first major manufacturer to offer a suite of family-friendly software as an alternative to Microsoft Office, the first to include optical drives as standard equipment on all of its machines and the first to include high-end speakers with the purchase of a sound card (like the Boston Acoustics Digital BA735). Through its innovative case design, Gateway was able to reduce the need for high-wattage power supplies, and fans, making their machines cooler and quieter. AOL acquired Gateway.net, the online component of Gateway, Inc., in October 1999 for US$800 million.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Gateway closes AOL chapter with stock buyback )〕 To grow beyond its model of selling high-end PCs by phone, and to attract top management and engineers, Gateway relocated its base of operations to La Jolla, California, in May 1998. In an effort to cut operating costs, Gateway made another move, this time to Poway, California, in October 2001. After acquiring eMachines in 2004, Gateway again relocated its corporate headquarters, to Irvine, California. Gateway purchased the remaining Commodore and Amiga assets from Escom in 1997.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = Amiga Documents )〕 It licensed the patents to Amiga, Inc. in 1999, retaining ownership over them until their eventual expiration. The trademarks and copyrights were sold by Gateway to Amiga in the same year.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = Amiga Documents )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = Amiga Flame )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = Amiga History )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = CNET Networks Inc. )〕 Gateway struggled after the dot-com bust and tried several strategies to return to profitability, including withdrawal from international markets, reduction in the number of retail stores and most significantly, entering the consumer electronics business. However, amid widespread complaints about its reputedly poor customer service, none of these efforts was particularly successful from a financial standpoint, and Gateway continued to suffer major losses as well as market share in the PC business.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher = CNET News )〕 By April 1, 2004, Gateway had announced that it would shut down its 188 remaining Gateway Country Stores. On March 11, 2004, Gateway purchased low-cost PC marketer eMachines, for US$30 million in cash and 50 million shares of stock, valuing the deal at approximately US$262 million with announced intentions to keep the eMachines brand.〔( Gateway Buys EMachines ) PC World, Jan 30, 2004〕 Gateway had hopes that eMachines' retail channel strength would complement its own strengths in consumer and business direct channels. Through the deal, founder Ted Waitt turned over day-to-day responsibilities and the CEO role to eMachines' CEO, Wayne Inouye, and remained as chairman through May 2005. Inouye announced his resignation as CEO on February 9, 2006; Chairman Rick Snyder served as interim CEO until September 7, 2006, when J. Edward Coleman was brought in as the new CEO. At that point, Gateway still sold both Gateway and eMachines brand computers through retail vendors such as Circuit City, Best Buy, TigerDirect, Wal-Mart, and CompUSA. Its Gateway brand products continued to be available in direct channels. Gateway has outsourced some of its operations, such as customer support. In 2002, Gateway expanded into the consumer electronics world with products that included plasma screen TVs, digital cameras, DLP projectors, wireless Internet routers, and MP3 players. While the company enjoyed some success in gaining substantial market share from traditional leaders in the space, particularly with plasma TVs and digital cameras, the limited short-term profit potential of those product lines led then-CEO Wayne Inouye to pull the company out of that segment during 2004. Gateway still acts as a retailer selling third-party electronic goods online. Gateway resourced customer support within North America, priding itself as "100% North America-based support". Gateway also moved build-to-order desktop, laptop, and server manufacturing back to the United States, with the opening of its Gateway Configuration Center in Nashville, Tennessee, in September 2006. It employed 385 people in that location. As of April 2007, Gateway notebook computers were produced in China and its desktops had "made in Mexico" stickers. On September 4, 2007, Gateway announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to sell its professional business segment to MPC Corporation. This includes the company's Nashville-based configuration center.〔(Gateway sells business unit in $90 million deal – OC Business News – OCRegister.com )〕 On October 16, 2007, Acer completed its acquisition of Gateway for US$710 million. J. T. Wang, the company's chairman, said in a statement that the acquisition "completes Acer's global footprint, by strengthening our U.S. presence."〔(About Acer – News Release )〕 Its final share price of US$1.90 was far below the US$4.00 average price in the mid-1990s and drastically below a high of US$84 in late 1999. The US$1.90 per share was just barely over half of the split-adjusted IPO price of US$3.75 in 1993. On July 27, 2008, Gateway ended all direct sales from Gateway.com and all phone orders. All new Gateway products could now only be purchased from major retailers and on other online sites.〔(Gateway News & Information )〕 On August 14, 2009, Gateway relaunched their brand in Australia after a long absence from that market. They started with the sale of laptops and netbooks, and Gateway launched their desktop line in sync with the launch of Windows 7.〔(Gateway relaunches in Australia cnet Australia )〕 In December 2011, Acer announced that the Gateway brand would cease on all server and storage equipment as of the first quarter of 2012; it was replaced by Acer Business.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Acer to murder Gateway brand • The Channel )〕 Gateway has started direct sales again through the Acer Store.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Acer Store - Buy Laptops, Ultrabooks, Tablets, Monitors & more )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gateway, Inc.」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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