Editing Compaq (section)

====Market ascension====
[[File:Compaq Presario 425 (31404884663).jpg|thumb|An early-1990s [[Compaq Presario]] [[All-in-one computer|all-in-one]]]]
Under Pfeiffer's tenure as chief executive, Compaq entered the retail computer market with the [[Compaq Presario]] as one of the first manufacturers in the mid-1990s to market a sub-$1000 PC. In order to maintain the prices it wanted, Compaq became the first first-tier computer manufacturer to utilize CPUs from [[AMD]] and [[Cyrix]]. The two price wars resulting from Compaq's actions ultimately drove numerous competitors from the market, such as [[Packard Bell]] and [[AST Research]]. From third place in 1993, Compaq had overtaken Apple Computer and even surpassed IBM as the top PC manufacturer in 1994, as both IBM and Apple were struggling considerably during that time.<ref name="Money.cnn.com">{{cite magazine |url = https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1996/04/01/210990/index.htm |title = FAST TIMES AT COMPAQ WITH ECKHARD PFEIFFER AT THE WHEEL, COMPAQ IS PASSING OTHER PC MAKERS. THE COMPANY RECENTLY HIT A SPEED BUMP--BUT THE FUTURE'S SO BRIGHT THE CEO HAS TO WEAR SHADES. |magazine = Fortune.com |first = DAVID |last = KIRKPATRICK |date = April 1, 1996 |access-date = November 16, 2012 }}</ref> Compaq's inventory and gross margins were better than that of its rivals which enabled it to wage the price wars.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/16/business/company-news-wide-range-of-price-cuts-by-compaq.html?src=pm |work = The New York Times |first = Lawrence M. |last = Fisher |title = COMPANY NEWS; Wide Range Of Price Cuts By Compaq |date = August 16, 1994 |url-access=limited }}</ref>

Compaq had decided to make a foray into printers in 1989, and the first models were released to positive reviews in 1992. However, Pfeiffer saw that the prospects of taking on market leader [[Hewlett-Packard]] (who had 60% market share) was tough, as that would force Compaq to devote more funds and people to that project than originally budgeted. Compaq ended up selling the printer business to Xerox and took a charge of $50 million.<ref name="scribd1"/><ref name=autogenerated4>{{cite news |url = https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/1995-07-30/compaq-all-things-to-all-networks |title = Compaq: All Things To All Networks? |first = Gary |last = Mcwilliams |newspaper = Bloomberg.com |date = 31 July 1995 |access-date = 29 June 2016 | url-access=subscription}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable floatright"
|+United States PC market unit shipments (1994)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tech-insider.org/statistics/research/1996/0126.html | title=Worldwide PC Market Grew 24 Percent in 1995 }}</ref>
!Company
!Shipments (000s)
!% Market Share
|-
|'''Compaq'''
|2,335
|12.6
|-
|[[Apple Inc.|Apple]]
|2,165
|11.6
|-
|[[Packard Bell]]
|2,130
|11.4
|-
|[[IBM]]
|1,669
|9.0
|-
|[[Gateway 2000]]
|960
|5.2
|-
|[[Dell]]
|790
|4.2
|-
|[[AST Research]]
|720
|3.9
|-
|[[Toshiba]]
|676
|3.6
|}
In 1994, Compaq formed a joint venture with [[ADI Corporation]], a Taiwanese manufacturer who produced the bulk of Compaq's monitors, to raise multiple factories in Mexico, Brazil, and Europe to assemble and store ADI's monitors.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Kanellos | first=Michael | date=November 28, 1994 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/227487080/ | title=ADI develops offshore sites with Compaq's aid | journal=Computer Reseller News | publisher=CMP Publications | issue=607 | page=26 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> Compaq sold many of the monitors that they offered to customers of their Deskpro and Presario lines as standalone units to third-party resellers, including their popular 171FS monitor.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Silverman | first=Dwight | date=May 15, 1994 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/indiana-gazette-dont-scrimp-on-a-monito/146922017/ | title=If you have the bucks, here are two monitors to buy | journal=Houston Chronicle | publisher=Hearst Communications | page=F2 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Barnes | first=Katie | date=September 12, 1995 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GL59pngdbfQC&pg=PA152 | title=Compaq 171FS | journal=PC Magazine | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=14 | issue=15 | page=152 | via=Google Books}}</ref>

On June 26, 1995, Compaq reached an agreement with [[Cisco Systems|Cisco Systems, Inc.]], in order to get into networking, including digital modems, routers, and switches favored by small businesses and corporate departments, which was now a $4 billion business and the fastest-growing part of the computer hardware market. Compaq also built up a network engineering and marketing staff.<ref name=autogenerated4 />