Chairman and CEO Ted Waitt started Gateway 2000 with a simple concept: offer customers an alternative to the high
markups, limited choices and inadequate support common in the retail computer market of the mid-1980s.
During a brief stint in retail computer sales Waitt saw a chance to change the industry while bringing better value and service to customers through the direct market. Timing and circumstances fell into place in September 1985 and Gateway 2000 was born.
The previous four generations of Waitt’s family were Midwestern cattle producers, a breed known for their independent, risk-taking approach to business. Applying that bold approach to the PC industry, Waitt guided Gateway to a roaring start with revenues quickly reaching $1 million. Our Midwestern roots remain part of Gateway’s corporate culture and are symbolized by our cow mascot and cow-spotted boxes. Gateway’s amazing growth helped transform the industry by making the direct channel a major factor in computer sales and service.
The advantages of our direct model and a straightforward, common-sense approach to business rocketed Gateway to revenues of more than $3.6 billion in 1995. Today we’re the number-one direct market computer company in the U.S. and have operations in Europe, Japan, Australia and the Pacific Rim. Gateway stock is sold publicly on the NYSE Stock Market under GTW.
Gateway stresses quality in all areas, from marketing to shipping and technical support. The emphasis on quality has won Gateway’s North Sioux City manufacturing, customer hardware support and remanufacturing operations ISO 9002 certification, and has earned the company recognition from the Gartner Group as a consolidated Tier 1/Tier 2 vendor of personal computers. Gateway also became the number one direct marketer of PCs on the government GSA schedule in 1995 after its first full year on the schedule.
In the last five years, Gateway 2000 has complemented its strong home user market by building a Major Accounts group. Major Accounts employs more than 400 sales, technical support and customer service representatives who deal solely with corporate, government and education customers.
Gateway plans to maintain its growth into the future with continuous improvement in service and support and by offering industry-leading value on technology designed to meet people’s needs.
![[Gateway 2000]](/view-amigaplus_n/http://www.gateway2000.com/media/image/logo/gate_sm.gif){kind=logo}
Copyright © 1996 Gateway 2000 Inc. All rights reserved.
Please see our Legal Information. Please send feedback to Webmaster Central.