Gateway is entering the corporate networking equipment
market with a line of wireless access points and low-end Lan
switches.
The company will offer nine switches ranging from $79 to $799
and two access points priced at $299 and $399, primarily for
midsized businesses, said Chad McDonald, manager of Gateway's
networking division.
One of Gateway's goals is to give corporate users a well-rounded
product offering. The company already sells servers to businesses
but has had to refer customers who want switches to other
suppliers.
The new products will compete with offerings from Dell, which
started selling switches in 2001.
"These are definitely rock-bottom prices," said IDC analyst
Maximilian Flisi, although he added that Gateway will, primarily,
offer the networking gear to complement its servers, PCs and
storage devices.
"They aren't going to gain new customers by doing this, and if
they expect to do so, well, good luck to them," Flisi said, noting
that Dell makes a "miniscule" amount of revenue from its switching
line.
More than half of Gateway's total revenue of $3.4bn for last
year came from sales of corporate-oriented products and services,
said company spokesman Ted Ladd.
Last week Gateway announced it would close its 188 company-owed
retail stores, laying off about 2,500 workers. The company said it
will seek wider retail distribution of its consumer products.
Matt Hamblen writes for Computerworld