Compaq tackles delivery record

PC maker boosts build-to-order to remedy reputation for late deliveries

Compaq is intending to expand its build-to-order and configuration service for the channel in order to speed up delivery times and to improve its ability to compete with direct PC vendors.

The PC manufacturer admitted it has been ?losing out due to late deliveries?. It will now raise the proportion of its build-to-order (BTO) and configure-to-order (CTO) output from 50 per cent of machines to about 80 per cent by the end of the year.

Compaq UK commercial marketing manager Peter Blampied said: ?We?ve been building to channel order for the past 18 months, but it gives us nowhere near the BTO level we want.

?We hope to reach 80 to 90 per cent by the end of the year.?

In the US, there were reports that the vendor will implement a stringent 14-day price protection scheme in conjunction with its BTO strategy. But Blampied insisted this is not something that the UK arm will be considering and he maintained that the 60-day protection period will remain intact.

?What we are trying to do [in the UK] is reduce the channel?s inventory and the period for which they hold stock. We?ll try to do this through EDI links and replenishment of orders. The idea is that the user places an order with the channel, which delivers within 24 hours and flags Compaq with details of the machine sold, and we replace it.?

In its second quarter figures to 30 June, Compaq produced a net income of $214 million on a turnover of $5 billion. In the six-month period, net income was $601 million and sales were $9.8 billion.

Compaq has also slashed the prices of existing Deskpro models by up to 22 per cent.