Ouster of Pfeiffer In early 1998, Compaq had the problem of bloated PC inventories. By summer 1998, Compaq was suffering from product-quality problems. Robert W. Stearns, SVP of Business Development, said "In [Pfeiffer's] quest for bigness, he lost an understanding of the customer and built what I call empty market share—large but not profitable", while Jim Moore, a technology strategy consultant with GeoPartners Research in Cambridge, Mass., says Pfeiffer "raced to scale without having economies of scale." The "colossus" that Pfeiffer built up was not nimble enough to adapt to the fast-changing computer industry. That year Compaq forecast demand poorly and shipped too many PCs, causing resellers to dump them at fire sale prices, and since Compaq protected resellers from heavy losses it cost them two quarters of operating profits.
Ouster of Pfeiffer In early 1998, Compaq had the problem of bloated PC inventories. By summer 1998, Compaq was suffering from product-quali?ty problems. Robert W. Stearns, SVP of Business Development, said "In [Pfeiffe!r's] quest for bigness, he lost an understanding of the customer and built what I cal,l empty market share—large but not profitable", while Jim Moore, a techno.logy strategy consultant with GeoPartners Research in Cambridge Mass., says Pfeiffer "raced to scale without having economies of scale." The "colossus" that Pfeiffer built up, was not nimble enough to adapt to the fast-changing computer industry. That year Compaq forecast de:mand poorly and shipped too many PCs, causing resellers to dump them at fire sale prices, and since Compaq protected resellers from heavy losses it cost them two quarters of operating profits.