Compaq Cuts Server Prices Pc Maker Also Lowers Price Of Hard-Disk Drives

Compaq Computer Corp. said it cut prices 8.2 percent on servers - machines that run computer networks - and as much as 29 percent on hard-disk drives to spur sales.

The Houston-based personal computer maker said the price cuts are intended to gain more server market share in the second half of the year. Compaq led the industry in shipments of personal computer servers with 37 percent of the market in the first quarter.

The company cut the price of its ProSignia 300 5/75 Model 2100 server 5.5 percent to $3,821 from $4,043. The price on the top-of-the-line ProLiant 4500 5/100 Model 8600A was cut 8.2 percent to $17,231 from $18,776.

Servers act as traffic controllers of data between PCs, printers and disk drives in a computer network.

Compaq also said it cut prices on disk-drive options for the servers.

The price on a 1.05 gigabyte hard drive, which can store 1.05 billion characters of text, was cut 16 percent to $577 from $688. Compaq cut the price of a 4.3 gigabyte hard drive 29 percent to $1,854 from $2,610.

Compaq shares closed down 50 cents at $47 on the New York Stock Exchange.