Gateway, Inc., is a computer hardware company based in Irvine, California, USA which develops, manufactures, supports, and markets a wide range of personal computers, computer monitors, servers, and computer accessories. It became a well-known brand in 1991 when it started shipping its computer hardware in cow-spotted boxes and for its creative advertising in Computer Shopper and other magazines. Gateway was acquired by Acer Inc. in 2007.
 

On September 4, 2007 Gateway announced that it had signed a definitive agreement to sell its professional business segment to MPC Corporation. This includes the company's Nashville-based configuration center.
 

On October 16, 2007, Acer Inc. completed its acquisition of Gateway for approximately US$710 million. Its final share price of US$1.90 was far below the US$4.00 average price in the mid 1990s and drastically below a high of US$84 in late 1999. The US$1.90 per share was just barely over half of the split-adjusted IPO price of US$3.75 in 1993.

 

Gateway was founded on September 5, 1985, on a farm outside Sioux City, Iowa, by Ted Waitt and Mike Hammond. Originally called Gateway 2000, it was one of the first widely successful direct sales PC companies, utilizing a sales model copied from Dell, and playing up its Iowa roots with low-tech advertisements proclaiming "Computers from Iowa?". Shipping computers in spotted boxes patterned after cow markings (specifically, Holstein cows) became a Gateway standard. In 1989 Gateway moved its corporate offices and production facilities to North Sioux City, South Dakota. In line with the Holstein cow mascot, Gateway opened a chain of retail stores called Gateway Country Stores, mostly in suburban areas across the United States. It dropped the "2000" from its name on October 31, 1998.
 

AOL acquired Gateway.net, the online component of Gateway, Inc., in October 1999 for US$800 million.
 

To grow beyond its model of selling high-end PCs by phone, and to attract top management and engineers, Gateway relocated its base of operations to La Jolla, California, in May 1998. In an effort to cut operations costs, Gateway made another move, this time to Poway, California, in October, 2001. After acquiring eMachines in 2004, Gateway again relocated its corporate headquarters to Irvine, California.
 

Gateway purchased the Amiga assets from Escom in 1997 and since 2000, this Amiga intellectual property has been licensed to Amiga, Inc.
 

Gateway struggled after the dot-com bust and tried several strategies to return to profitability, including withdrawal from international markets, reduction in the number of retail stores and most significantly, entering the consumer electronics business. However, amid widespread complaints about its reputedly poor customer service, none of these efforts was particularly successful from a financial standpoint, and Gateway continued to suffer major losses as well as market share in the PC business.By April 1, 2004, Gateway had announced that it would shut down its 188 remaining stores.
 

On March 11, 2004, Gateway purchased low-cost PC marketer eMachines, for US$30 million in cash and 50 million shares of stock, valuing the deal at approximately US$262 million with announced intentions to keep the eMachines brand.Gateway had hopes that eMachines' retail channel strength would complement its own strengths in consumer and business direct channels. Through the deal, founder Ted Waitt turned over day-to-day responsibilities and the CEO role to eMachines' CEO, Wayne Inouye, and remained as chairman through May 2005.

Inouye announced his resignation as CEO on February 9, 2006; Chairman Rick Snyder served as interim CEO until September 7, 2006 when J. Edward Coleman was brought in as the new CEO. At this point, Gateway still sold both Gateway and eMachines brand computers through retail vendors such as Circuit City, Best Buy, TigerDirect, Wal-Mart, and CompUSA. Its Gateway brand products continued to be available in direct channels.
 

Gateway has outsourced some of its operations, such as customer support. In 2002, Gateway expanded into the consumer electronics world with products that included plasma screen TVs, digital cameras, DLP projectors, wireless internet routers, and MP3 players. While the company enjoyed some success in gaining substantial market share from traditional leaders in the space, particularly with plasma TVs and digital cameras, the limited short-term profit potential of these product lines led then-CEO Wayne Inouye to pull the company out of that segment during 2004. Gateway still acts as a retailer selling third-party electronic goods online.
 

Gateway has resourced customer support within North America, priding itself as "100% North America-based support". Gateway also moved build-to-order desktop, laptop, and server manufacturing back to the United States, with the opening of its Gateway Configuration Center in Nashville, Tennessee in September 2006. It employed 385 people in that location. As of April 2007 Gateway notebook computers were produced in China and its desktops had "made in Mexico" stickers.
 

On October 16, 2007, Acer completed its acquisition of Gateway for US$710 million. J.T. Wang, the company's chairman, said in a statement that the acquisition "completes Acer's global footprint, by strengthening our U.S. presence."
 

On July 27, 2008, Gateway ended all direct sales from Gateway.com and phone orders. All new Gateway products could now only be purchased from major retailers and on other online sites.
 

On August 14, 2009, Gateway has relaunched their brand in Australia after a long absence from Australia's market. They have started with the sale of laptops and netbooks, and Gateway has now launched their desktop line in sync with the launch of Windows 7.
 

In December 2011, Acer announced that the Gateway brand would cease on all server and storage kit as of Q1 2012. It will be replaced by Acer Business.