Companies have also had to abandon costly marketing ploys that offered discounts on PCs and Internet access fees. Despite the blunders, industry watchers say, don't count out the top PC makers, who have ridden through economic storms before. The PC makers may even innovate themselves out of trouble. In the mid-1990s, while Corporate America ignored the Internet, Dell and Gateway revolutionized business by selling their computers online. The much-copied tactic slashed costs and sped up shipments by killing the middleman.
Analysts say such Internet appliances have sold poorly.
Consumers simply may not like the gizmos. Or the technology may be too early, since most homes do not have high-speed cable or DSL lines. For now, industry leaders including Microsoft's Bill Gates, Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Intel CEO Craig Barrett say the desktop still has many good years left. Wall Street isn't buying it, though. Since the stock market's peak last March, PC share prices have plunged.