Micronpc.com Inks Deal With Nebraska Furniture Mart; New Partnership Moves Millennia-Brand Personal Computers Into North America's Largest Furniture Retailer

Business Wire, March 14, 2001

Business Editors

NAMPA, Idaho--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 14, 2001

Micron Electronics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MUEI) has signed an agreement with Nebraska Furniture Mart to sell micronpc.com computers as part of the PC manufacturer's VelocityNet Direct(TM) retail-direct business strategy.

According to Bob Daniel, micronpc.com area vice president for VelocityNet Direct business development, the new partnership gives millions of people throughout the Midwest access to the latest award-winning Millennia(R)-brand PCs and adds an important regional retailer to the computer manufacturer's expanding retail distribution network.

"Nebraska Furniture Mart has only one location, in Omaha, Neb., but with 450,000 square feet of retail space on a 77-acre campus, it's the largest single-volume home furnishings retailer in North America," Daniel said. "This place is so utterly amazing that people drive more than 300 miles to shop there. Partnering with them gives micronpc.com incredible reach into an important base of customers. Plus, NFM announced last month that it will open a second store of even greater magnitude in Kansas City, Kan., next year."

Micronpc.com's new retail partner is also enthusiastic about the relationship, according to NFM President Irv Blumkin. "Everyone at Nebraska Furniture Mart is excited to offer our customers Micron's award-winning personal computers," Blumkin says. "Millennia-brand PCs deliver exceptional value and performance, and Micron has a long history of being first to deliver technological innovation to the marketplace."

NFM is stocking four different Millennia models, including three desktop PCs and one notebook. The three desktop computers sport 800-MHz Duron(TM), 1.0-GHz Athlon(TM), and 1.2-GHz Athlon processors from AMD. The 1.2-GHz configuration is similar to micronpc.com's Millennia MAX XP, which Winmag.com senior technology editor Jonathan Blackwood recently dubbed "the fastest PC on the planet." The notebook PC will feature a 600-MHz Intel(R) Pentium(R) III processor.

Daniel says the NFM partnership is further proof that micronpc.com's retail-direct strategy is a winning one. "In spite of the current challenges in the PC industry, we continue to believe that VelocityNet Direct is a winning business model because it helps solve the very problem plaguing retailers-- inventory," he explains. "This high-velocity, retail-direct formula takes advantage of a direct-model supply chain, allowing retail partners like Nebraska Furniture Mart to reduce shelf inventory and be nimble enough to respond to customer demands."

Micronpc.com's VelocityNet Direct business model encompasses both configure-to-order (CTO) and replenish-to-order (RTO) sales. This enables consumers to build a custom-configured PC via in-store kiosks or buy a pre-configured, "off-the-shelf" PC. Customized PCs are delivered direct to consumers in as little as 72 hours and retailer inventory is replenished at record-breaking rates.

Currently NFM only offers pre-built, "off-the-shelf" RTO units. However, Blumkin says NFM plans to begin offering customers the ability to configure customized micronpc.com CTO PCs in April.

Micronpc.com's award-winning Millennia-brand computers are available at more than 1,500 retail locations throughout North American. In addition to Nebraska Furniture Mart, Micronpc.com's retail partners include Best Buy, Staples, RadioShack Canada, and Outpost.com.

About Micron Electronics

Micron Electronics, Inc. (Nasdaq:MUEI)(www.micronpc.com) is a leading Internet-centric computing company, providing award-winning computer products and services, Internet offerings, Web hosting, and business-to-business e-commerce applications for the small- and medium-size business, government, education and consumer markets. In addition to its direct business-to-business sales channel, Micron products are sold in partnership with leading retailers nationwide. Micron Electronics and its subsidiaries have $1.6 billion in fiscal 2000 revenues. The company is based in Nampa, Idaho. More information regarding the company and its Internet-centric computing strategy can be found at http://about.micronpc.com/financials/reports.html

VelocityNet Direct is a trademark and Millennia is a registered trademark of Micron Electronics, Inc. Athlon and Duron are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. Intel and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. Other product names appearing herein are for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective companies.