Compaq's Canion is unexpected casualty of the brutal personal-computer wars
Article Abstract:
Compaq's Joseph R. 'Rod' Canion is ousted, to be replaced by Eckhard Pfeiffer. The news signifies acceptance by Compaq of a need to adapt to new conditions in the computer industry. Competition in the industry is fierce: product cycles are short and profit margins are narrow. Canion's dismissal comes one day after the release of especially bad news: Compaq reports losing $70 million in 3rd qtr 1991, and the company plans to cut its work force by 1,400 employees. Canion was a respected industry leader. He was Compaq's only president and CEO during the company's nine-year history. His strategy of building 'clones' of IBM microcomputers was one of the computer industry's outstanding success stories. Under Canion's leadership, Compaq grew to $1 billion in sales faster than any US company had ever done. Canion's ouster from Compaq is viewed by many industry observers as both sad and surprising.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1991
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From Apple, a new marketing blitz
Article Abstract:
Apple is unveiling a $100 million advertising campaign to promote its $1,299 iMac consumer PC. The company's largest-ever ad effort will focus on Steve Jobs's bid to position the iMac as the new Macintosh. Ads will debut on TV, print and radio starting Aug 15-16, 1998, and run throughout the remainder of 1998. Billboards, meanwhile, also will appear in 10 major US cities. Online correspondence among Mac enthusiasts has raised interest in the speedy entry-level iMac, which contains a PowerPC G3 microprocessor. Jobs surprised the computer industry by announcing the iMac in May 1998. The iMac lacks some of Macintosh's revolutionary qualities, and other shortcomings may deter potential buyers. Problems include the absence of a disk drive and incompatibility with many existing Apple printers.
Publication Name: The Wall Street Journal Western Edition
Subject: Business, general
ISSN: 0193-2241
Year: 1998
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