Gateway looks beyond PCs and into retail

Gateway has announced strategic alliances with Sun Microsystems and investments totalling $75m (£46.9m) in US retailer OfficeMax, and internet software firm eSoft.

Gateway has announced strategic alliances with Sun Microsystems and investments totalling $75m (£46.9m) in US retailer OfficeMax, and internet software firm eSoft.

The move came as the company claimed its sales will more than triple to $30bn by 2004, with most of it generated by non-PC sales.

Gateway estimated that non-system sales will reach 40 per cent by the end of this year - twice the level of 1999 and 10 per cent higher than previously announced for 2000.

The company will bundle its PCs with Sun's software and aim the product at enterprise customers. Sun will refer customers to Gateway for computers and Gateway will pre-load the PCs with Portal Pack, Sun's Webtop software.

The initiative will be launched in the US in April.

The company also unveiled plans to jointly launch 1,000 Gateway-managed concession sites in US high-street store OfficeMax, and will invest $50m in the chain as part of the deal.

It will also pump $25m into eSoft as part of an agreement to combine the software firm's application and management products with its server appliances and internet access products.

Jeff Weitzen, chief executive of Gateway, said: "Our status is taking our client relationships beyond the box, and our multi-channel distribution model positions us extremely well for accelerated growth and profitability."