tGateway 2000tRokDaZonetfpf3c04caaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaf b b bf1c03 Learn more about the saviour of the Amiga, its economical basis,the futuref3c04 b bf1c03 for AT and the reasons behind the deal. f3c04 b b b daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaae f1c01 GATEWAY 2000 - BASIC INFORMATION c02 by RokDaZone c03The news came in a highly unexpected moment: Once again the right on Amiga have been sold actually for the fourth time, including the swallowing of Amiga by Commodore in the late seventieth. While most people were quite convinced that Quickpak - former chip-assembling company for Amiga Technologies (AT) - would make the race and blow in new life into a dead body, a PC-assembling company took AT in a sudden rush. Gateway 2000 from North Sioux City, South Dakota US, announced on the 27th of March to have made an offer to acquire the assets of AT including all patents, trademarks and trade names. c02The offer has directly been accepted by the court-appointed Administrator in Bankruptcy in Germany acting on behalf of AT. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval. "This acquisition is good news for Gateway and customers of AMIGA", said Rick Snyder, president and COO of Gateway 2000. "It will strengthen our intellectual property position and invigorate a company that has been a pioneer in multimedia solutions and operating systems technology". c03Funny though that only few people actually hardly seem to know the company. We therefore took a dive into the homepage of Gateway 2000 to filter out the most important facts for you. c04Certain pessimist circles already announced that Gateway 2000 is another company face to face with bankruptcy. Some very smart people even know that Gateway 2000 would get out of liquidity within the next half year. Despite swimming against the stream again, we can't help ourselves to state just the opposite. c01 ABOUT GATEWAY 2000 c03Gateway 2000 Inc., a Fortune 500 company founded in 1985, is a global leader in the direct marketing of PCs. The company has manufacturing facilities in the United States, Ireland and Malaysia, and employs over 9,700 people worldwide. Gateway 2000 products and services consistently win top awards from leading industry publications. 17 prices by international computer press in categories such as "Best Desktop Systems" and "Best Service and Support" Even in early 1997 they have by the end of March received three prices already. In 1996, the company shipped 1.9 million systems and reported revenues of $5 billion and net income of $250 million. c02Final figures from 1996 were not available in the moment of editing, still the growth rate from 1991 to 1995 speaks for itself and with the beforementioned figures in mind, the positive trend seems unbroken. c03 1995 Annual Report - Selected Financial Data Consolidated Statements of Operations c04 (in thousands, except share and per share amounts) Year Ended December 31 f3c04 bf1c02 1991 c04 f3 b03f1 1995 f3c04 aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamaaaaaaaaaaamaaaaaaaaaaa f1c01 Net sales f3 c04 bf1c02 626,798 f3c04 bf1c03 3,676,328 f1c01 Gross profit f3 c04 bf1c02 115,921 f3c04 bf1c03 615,795 f1c01 Operating income f3 c04 bf1c02 59,340 f3c04 bf1c03 249,008 f1c01 Net income and pro forma net incomef3 c04 bf1c02 39,336 f3c04 bf1c03 95,973 f1c01 Net income and pro forma net incomef3 c04 bf1c02 0.59 f3c04 bf1c03 2.19 f1c01 (per share) f3 c04 b f3 b f1c03Except for net income and pro forma net income with small growth loss in 1995 when 1994 exceeded 100,000,000, the overall trend is positive with a constantly growing income. c02 Consolidated Balance Sheet December 31 f3 c04 bc02f1 1991 f3c04bc03f1 1995 c04f3 aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamaaaaaaaaaamaaaaaaaaaaa f1c01 Working capital f3c04bc02f1 56,227 f3c04bc03f1 340,898 f1c01 Total assets f3c04bc02f1 128,120 f3c04bc03f1 1,124,011 f1c01 Long-term obligations, f3c04bc02f1 3,472 f3c04bc03f1 27,131 f1c01 net of current maturities f3c04bc02f1 f3c04bc03f1 f1c01 Stockholders’ equity f3c04bc02f1 63,645 f3c04bc03f1 555,519 f1c02As one of the world's leading direct marketers of PCs, Gateway 2000 has experienced tremendous growth in its federal government sales, particularly on the General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule 70 B/C. According to IDC, the company's reported revenues from the GSA for fiscal year 1996 grew 133% over 1995 levels to $191 million. These totals placed Gateway as the number one direct marketer on the schedule and second overall for the second consecutive year. c03f4"The success of Gateway 2000 in the federal marketplace is attributable to the personalized approach taken by the Federal Government sales team and the inherent strength of our direct business model,"f1 said Bob Spears, senior vice president of the Americas Region at Gateway 2000. c01 WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR AT? c02f4"Gateway 2000 will give us new life and energy for the future,"f1 said AT's president Petro Tyschtschenko in his common highly to the point way of representing the opinion of AT in public. Like always it is up to others to make up their mind. c03AMIGA Technologies will be renamed AMIGA International, this is factual. The company will operate as a separate business unit and will retain its current president Tyschtschenko, who will work to develop new products for the AMIGA market. This again will still take quite some time as any kind of development was frozen from the moment of EEscoms bankruptcy on. Earliest, we might expect real new solutions in mid 1998, more likely even early 1999. Instead, the company will most likely concentrate on A4000 alikes on 68030/50 and 68040/50 basis. c02Many people asked themselves why Gateway 2000 bought the rights on AT. Surely not to push a competitor from the market like romantics with a heart for martyrs stated immediately. The Amiga is not a competitor anymore, especially not in a situation of bankruptcy then. First of all, Gateway 2000 paid the millions at ease. It even could be that they made this investment for tax-reasons primarily. Still, we should not forget that there still is a market in Germany and in Eastern Europe for a propitious allround computer, sales of AT under Escom have proven this. The common PC and the common Macintosh are both still too expensive on these markets for the common worker. Here there is a chance. Also, it gives the outward appearance of Gateway 2000 a bonus for being saviour to the Amiga, which could mean that people who change from Amiga to PC might take Gateway 2000 PCs more into concern than they would have done before. c03What remains for us to do is - like we are used to - to wait. Wait what Amiga International will grow to be and what Phase V may do with their A/BOX and of course for the transAM from PIOS. c01 PHASE V ON GATEWAY 2000 and AMIGA INTERNATIONAL c02f4"We appreciate the fact that with Gateway 2000 a new owner is going to take over Amiga Technologies, who can provide a strong base for a future development of the Amiga and the Amiga market" says Wolf Dietrich, General Manager of phase 5. (...) We believe that there are big chances for the Amiga future if Gateway 2000 understands the heart and soul of the Amiga and it's users. Once again, we are open for a technological cooperation which could result in nearly immediate availability of powerful and inexpensive new technology for the Amiga."f1 c03Even Phase V therefore is awilled to accept the newly reformed Amiga International so that new ways could be found. Surely the A/Box won't become an Amiga International product, but it might be that Amiga International could force the process of developing the CAIPIRINHA-chip. Also the chip might find its way into new models from Amiga International aswell so that we would find a new standard again.