Gateway Firing Up The Channel

The company also has begun turning over some larger accounts to the channel. For example, Gateway assigned all government sales under the state of Alabama purchasing program to Inline, a Birmingham, Ala.-based solution provider.

And the San Diego-based vendor is set to jump back into the ultraportable notebook market in a bid to compete with rivals like Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo.

“[VARs] are all looking for the Dell killer,” said Matt McManus, senior director of reseller programs for Gateway.

McManus said since kicking off its new channel strategy a year ago, Gateway has managed to grow its ranks of resellers to 1,500. In an effort to shore up sales from within those ranks, Gateway is reducing the sales requirement bar that entitles channel partners to rebates and other financial incentives. The bar will now be $50,000 per quarter, down from $1 million in sales per year, McManus said, making it more attractive to smaller solution providers to lead with Gateway products.

“I think it&'s a great idea, mainly because Gateway needs to step back out into the marketplace,” said James Agnello, president of Jonathan&'s Computer Center, a Sewell, N.J.-based solution provider and Gateway channel partner.

Agnello said the change will allow him to consider budgeting money for marketing his company&'s Gateway product line the same as it does for competing PC makers. “Lowering the bar a little gets more of us involved,” he said, adding that in aggregate, Gateway&'s smaller solution providers could raise the company&'s market standing in a significant way.

Ron Cook, owner of Ron Cook&'s Connecting Point Technology Center, a Las Vegas-based solution provider, said even as it increases its volume through the channel, Gateway appears to be committed to managing growth and conflict. “They&'re not just authorizing anybody,” Cook said.

The channel changes come with Gateway poised to re-enter the ultraportable notebook segment—an area where it has not played for more than a year. Executives say the company will announce a new product in this segment, as well as new desktop products, at the end of March. McManus said he believes these additions will increase Gateway&'s competitiveness in the commercial segment.

Gateway, while showing growth in both sales and profit during its most recent quarter, reported last week that its direct sales results were, in fact, weaker than expected.