1.   UniDirect hopes to duplicate the formula with other hardware vendors.

2.   And as personal computers become a commodity business, competition in the services sector is heating up as more hardware vendors try to move up the food chain.

3.   A few years ago, Intel officials would be sharing Itanium design secrets only with Microsoft, and perhaps a few hardware vendors like Compaq and Hewlett-Packard.

4.   But the decision to end cloning, which has been criticized by some Macintosh users who wanted a choice of hardware vendors, leaves problems for Apple.

5.   Hardware vendors also are targeting consumers whose hard drives are overflowing with images and music.

6.   Hardware vendors have explained to us that the cost of this part seems to be a factor in keeping its retail price high and out of consumer range.

7.   Hardware vendors have sought to play down the delay, suggesting that a single holiday shopping season lost will make little difference in a still-nascent market.

8.   Industry officials say these procedures have become a rising source of revenue for big hardware vendors.

9.   Microsoft could also be barred from signing exclusive or preferential contracts with hardware vendors.

10.   More likely suitors, he said, are other hardware vendors such as Hewlett-Packard or Silicon Graphics.