Gateway Computer

The Gateway Computer Company's story mirrors the sagas of so many late 20th century businesses. In 1985, a visionary named Ted Waitt founded Gateway in Irvine, CA. Gateway was one of the first so-called direct order computer companies. Like its fellow rising star, Dell Inc., Gateway played up its outsider status at first.

In 1988, the company changed its name from Gateway 2000 to Gateway Computer. Advertisements focused on Gateway's South Dakota origins and featured talking cows. After vying for dominance in the personal computing market with Dell, HP, and Compaq, Gateway suddenly crashed and burned during the 2000 "Dot Com Bust." The company scrambled to reorganize. It withdrew all of its major international marketing objectives to focus on rebuilding the home business.

To compensate for its crippled international sales, Gateway launched a massive retail operation in the United States, staffing more than 200 stores nationwide to help customers personalize their computers. Unfortunately for the company, these retail stores failed to prove profitable. By April 2004, Gateway had no choice but to close the doors on its 188 remaining retail outlets.

Gateway Computer took a massive financial hit from this failed domestic retail venture, but the company remains a potent market force. Starting in January 2004, Gateway bought up another personal computer manufacturer called eMachines. Gateway has since adopted and configured the eMachine manufacturing process to lower its costs and get newer models out to consumers faster.