Compaq stressed out by low prices

US wires are reporting that major PC vendor Compaq is continuing to cut prices on its system units, whichever chip is used. But that could cause things to redound in Compaq's face, after ex-CEO Eckhard Pfeiffer warned earlier this year that Free PCs were the way of the future. Compaq's triumvirate, headed by Ben Rosen, has still not appointed a CEO to replace Pfeiffer, who with his cohorts, transformed the company from a bit-PC player into a network giant. According to the reports, Compaq will now introduce a Presario at $599. It is finding itself between a rock and a hard place. The rock is Dell and the hard place are no-name, skeletonic manufacturers, most of which can knock out PCs at well below any price Compaq can sell at. Compaq also followed Dell's lead in introducing a Net service. Compaq's share price continues to dive on Wall Street. ®