eMachines was a brand of economical

personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...

s. In 2004, it was acquired by Gateway, Inc., which was in turn acquired by Acer Inc. in 2007. The eMachines brand was discontinued in 2013.

History

eMachines was founded in September 1998 by Lap Shun Hui as a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

of South Korean companies Korea Data Systems and TriGem. The company's first computers, the eTower 266 and 300, were sold at $399 or $499 respectively, not including a monitor. By March 1999, the company was ranked fourth in U.S. computer sales, with a 9.9%

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a Market (economics), market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those ...

. In August 1999, the company released the eOne, a computer that resembled the

iMac The iMac is a series of all-in-one computers from Apple Inc., sold as part of the company's Mac (computer), Mac family of computers. First introduced in 1998, it has remained a primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since and evol ...

, priced at $799, with a $400 rebate for customers who signed a 3-year agreement with

CompuServe CompuServe, Inc. (CompuServe Information Service, Inc., also known by its initialism CIS or later CSi) was an American Internet company that provided the first major commercial online service provider, online service. It opened in 1969 as a times ...

. In September 1999, the company announced plans to launch an

internet service provider An Internet service provider (ISP) is an organization that provides a myriad of services related to accessing, using, managing, or participating in the Internet. ISPs can be organized in various forms, such as commercial, community-owned, no ...

. The business acquired Free-PC in November 1999, which had previously provided free computers in exchange for advertising. On March 24, 2000, near the peak of the

dot-com bubble The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that ballooned during the late-1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000. This period of market growth coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Interne ...

, the company became a

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via an

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, raising $180 million. By that time, the company had sold 2 million computers, but had lost $84.5 million in the previous year on $815 million in sales and a 4%

profit margin Profit margin is a financial ratio that measures the percentage of profit earned by a company in relation to its revenue. Expressed as a percentage, it indicates how much profit the company makes for every dollar of revenue generated. Profit margi ...

. Shares fell 8% in their debut. At that time, major shareholders included AOL with a 6.4% stake and Bill T. Gross with a 12.4% stake. By May 2001, the stock was trading at 38 cents per share and the company was delisted from the

NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...

. In January 2002, Lap Shun Hui acquired the company for $161 million. In December 2003, the company released the T6000 desktop, the world's first mass-marketed

AMD Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California and maintains significant operations in Austin, Texas. AMD is a hardware and fabless company that de ...

Athlon 64 The Athlon 64 is a ninth-generation, AMD64-architecture microprocessor produced by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), released on September 23, 2003. It is the third processor to bear the name ''Athlon'', and the immediate successor to the Athlon XP. ...

-based system, retailing at US$1,299. The systems were primarily sold through

Best Buy Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was r ...

stores, but the PCs were also available online. In January 2004, the company released the M6805 & M6807 notebooks, the first notebook computers based on the AMD Mobile Athlon 64 processor. In March 2004, the company was acquired by Gateway Inc. for 50 million shares of Gateway common stock and $30 million cash. Wayne Inouye, CEO of eMachines, became CEO of Gateway, with founder Ted Waitt stepping down. In October 2007, Acer Inc. acquired Gateway. On January 17, 2013, the eMachines brand was discontinued.

References

{{Acer Inc. Acer Inc. Computer companies established in 1998 Computer companies disestablished in 2013 1998 establishments in California 2013 disestablishments in California Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct companies based in California Defunct computer hardware companies Defunct computer systems companies Dot-com bubble Gateway, Inc.