Capellas, 44, was speaking as his appointment was announced, ending three months without a leader for the firm. His confirmation as chief executive and president follows a seven week spell as chief operating officer at the world's second largest computer company. Capellas replaces Eckhard Pfeiffer, who resigned in April after the company warned of discouraging first quarter results. At that time Compaq reported a jump in first quarter net income but described the performance as "disappointing and unacceptable" and below internal expectations. "With this appointment, Compaq now has in place everything necessary to be at the forefront of theaccelerating revolution in information technology," said company chairman Benjamin Rosen. "Michael Capellas will lead the company through the next and greatest phase of its growth."

Restructuring to come Described by Compaq as an expert in information technology and supply chain management, Capellas was recruited last year as chief information officer. But it was as acting chief operating officer, that Capellas "mobilised the organisation, moving us forward at Internet speed". Capellas said that Compaq has already taken several of the actions necessary to regain the company's business momentum. He vowed to have a product rationalisation and restructuring strategy ready to announce by 15 August.

He said he was ready to confront the issues that trouble the world's largest personal computer maker, but denied the company's plight required a turnaround. The veteran computer executive and technology consultant with a background in the energy exploration industry said the company aimed to rapidlygrow sales of its PCs direct to customers, as its fast growing rivals do, rather than through dealers. "Today, our direct PC sales are at 15 per cent. By the end of the year, we will be at 25 per cent. On a going-forward model, we want to be at 40 per cent," he said. Share growth predicted He said Compaq had continued to gain market share in the total PC sales market in the second quarter, despite its warning last month that it expected to record a loss of up to 15 cents per share. "I believe that ... despite some other evidence to the contrary, you'll see us grow our market share," he said of second-quarter PC market statistics. Rivals - including Dell which has recently surged to become the world's No. 2 supplier of PCs - have said they expect to gain further market share. Compaq's share of the PC market dropped from 14.3 per cent to 13.4 per cent in the first quarter, while Dell's share rose from 7.2 per cent to 9.2 per cent, according to market research firm Dataquest.