Are Gateway about to leave Ireland?

Supercell

Was just reading in p45, a tread about this where people are saying anything from its closing next month to next sixth months, to they are going to stay and lay off 70% of the workforce.
Looking at the register Gateway gets hammered in Europe it looks bretty bleak indeed for them in Europe.

Anyone here go any more info?
I'm an owner of several Gateways..so my warrenty becomes moot if this happens i suppose, and also the tech job market i presume becomes even more crowded here.

Inf

I got two new gateway boxes atm, so im just gonna cross my fingers that they dont go. if they go what do you think will happen with ppls warrentys because afaik i paid for an extended warrenty, but also on the bright side i have a box that was a bit fu*cked when they delivered it and they have forgoten to collect it so should get a free pc that only needs a HD

WhiteWashMan

lets just say, dont apply for a job here.
there will be another bout of redundencies come septemeber i think, and when the result of q3 come in, i think a decision will be made then about staying or going.
i can definately confirm they are in talks with the IDA about not fulfilling their 10 year contract here. that slipped out by accident, so id say the possiblility of a withdraw is pretty high.
having said that, there is also mad roumers going about that IBM may indeed be merging/taking over, so it will be interesting to see.
on the other hand, i have a second interview for a nice job in surrey this week, so i really dont give a f*ck

stu_69

damn i was hoping to get my old job back when i get home next year!!!!

Ah well they are a bunch of ****3rs anyway.... I'll never forget they day I answered back general manager of gateway because i was in work wearing a DELL T-shirt. He just looked any one of the gob****es who called themselfs directors in there......!!!!

Kix

I'm sorry to hear this. I hope that it doesn't happen, it would be a real blow. A merger with IBM on the other hand, that sounds positive.

On the subject of warrarties though; I'm sure that they would be honoured, wouldn't they? Does anyone know the legal situation?

K

WhiteWashMan

im sure they would.
besides, there tech support would just be routed to the states.
f*ck em, i hope they go to the wall.
i dont intend to be around long enough to collect redundency maony.
rat, sinking ship....

EvilGeorge

Well Gateway is a global company so if EMEA goes , I'm sure warranty and support can be honoured from the states.

Stonemason

Let the good times roll.


Stone

Victor

I don't think they can or will leave 'just like that'. However, they were suggesting a fundamental review of their operation here. They would be likely to keep a Sales and Maintenance facility at least. Assembly may be another matter.

---

Kill, kill, kill the laser mice.

phobos

I don't think them closing down in Ireland is going to effect existing Irish customers (that much!).

I've a Gateway box, and bloody well used my 1 year on site warranty to the max. I got a new MotherBoard and a CDRW drive (I don't like the MBs). When I required technical support on both occasions, all communication was done by mail. So in that case location was not a issue. When the time came to send out an Engineer, Gateway outsourced another multi-national (can't remember the name) to replace the components.

So what I'm trying to say is that if they do close down, you can be damn sure we will be the last Gateway owners in this country. But if you are an existing customer whose warranty is still valid, I wouldn't lose any sleep.

Oh yeah!, does this mean that they will be closing their "Gateway Country Store" brach in Liffey Valley?. If not, they would have to import, which would probably mean higher prices. Hence, as I said before, we will be their last Irish customers.

;-phobos-)

flamegrill

i just happen to know that Gateway IRE have entered a contract with a repair and logistics outfit in dublin in the same industrial estate to debug and repair the Jabil built motherboards in all gateway machines. this is like that past 4-5 weeks, os that from this i think they dont plan to move.

but maybe things will change, i guess no one really knows

Supercell

Yeah hear what you are saying phobos, to be honest, for me an onsite warrenty is a waste of time( i don't want some spotty gimp with half a clue messing with my box), i just want a replacement part when something breaks, which does happen with pcs.
It seems that most people here reckon that warrenties will be honoured, which is good news, but hmm..time to get more paperwork under my belt, studying mcse's at the moment..looks to me like the market is about to be flooded here with techs given all this grim news.

Gladiator

yea gateway are out of here, no douth about it, their tax incentive ends this year,
i dont know what way it works, as the 10 years was up ages ago, but thats it not more after this year

WhiteWashMan

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by flamegrill:
i just happen to know that Gateway IRE have entered a contract with a repair and logistics outfit in dublin in the same industrial estate to debug and repair the Jabil built motherboards in all gateway machines. this is like that past 4-5 weeks, os that from this i think they dont plan to move.

but maybe things will change, i guess no one really knows </font>

well, if you look at it like this you might change your mind.
gateway have outsourced a lot of their tech support to limerick, glasgow and the states. sales can be routed to the states.
why is their any need to stay here?
pc can be made and shipped in 24 hours from anywhere in the world.

WhiteWashMan

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Gladiator:
yea gateway are out of here, no douth about it, their tax incentive ends this year,
i dont know what way it works, as the 10 years was up ages ago, but thats it not more after this year</font>

wrong, they still have 2 years left to run.
however, if a miniumum work force is kept then they dont forfit anything.
by minimum workforce, i mean, german or dutch tech support and client care.
a total of about 20 people.
they are already planning to rent out most of the space in the building to other companies. there will be redundencies in 2 months. after that, depending on 3rd quarter results, there will be more redundencies, or withdrawl. they pulled their german offices this month. they closed down their spanish operations 2 months ago. they closed down half their stores in the uk 3 months ago.
they are in negotiation with the IDA.
it doesnt look happy for gateway.

Gladiator

no offence, but ill take the word of the tax inspector over yours,

gandalf

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Gladiator:
no offence, but ill take the word of the tax inspector over yours,</font>

Sorry Glad but wwman is right. They started doing business here in 1993, I joined in 1994, 9 months after they started.

I know that back as far as 1995 they were examining reloacting to Holland so I am expecting them to pull out of Ireland when the 10 years are up. I doubt that they will withdraw from Europe altogether but I reckon they will relocate somewhere like Poland or the Czech republic.

The IBM takeover (it wont be a merger really) is another possibility as well but whatever happens I do think their days are numbered in Ireland.

Gandalf.


[This message has been edited by gandalf (edited 24-07-2001).]

Kix

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by tHE vAGGABOND:
Dell kick the ****e out of gateway at everything...

there just not good enough</font>

If Dell don't have Gateway's ass to try and kick then you might not find you like Dell that much any more... A bit of healthy competition is good for the consumer don't forget.

K

yankinlk

i would lay money that the ibm rumor is just that, a rumor. same one went round in dell two years ago about a big merge/buyout between dell and ibm, never happened.

not looking good for old gateway, but it seems to be the thing at the moment, Ireland is changing from a manufacturing industry to service/support. there will be many more of these closures/redundancies in the near future.

tHE vAGGABOND

Dell kick the ****e out of gateway at everything...

there just not good enough