By Ben King, 20 July 2001 13:10
NEWS Computer maker Gateway missed sales forecasts and posted a bigger loss than expected as it struggles in a weak PC market. The company lost $20.8m in its second quarter, a complete turnaround from last year's $118m profit for the same quarter. The loss is equivalent to six cents per share, larger than analysts' predictions, which were in the range of one to four cents per share. Sales were also below estimates, at $1.5bn compared to average expectations of $1.89bn and well below last year's $2.21bn figure. The company's 'Gateway Guarantee' programme, which promised competitive pricing, hit the group's overall margins, executives told a conference call. The programme began in the last month of the quarter and will carry on until late July. Gateway has been hit by a general downturn in the entire PC market, which has contracted by two per cent globally over the past year, according to recent surveys from Gartner and IDC.
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