Memory-prices on top
The pricing bloodbath of this summer may be over, as reports suggest that the summer's price hikes in memory from the Far East is now forcing many clone vendors to increase their PC prices.
So far it's only the no-name clone suppliers who have moved prices upwards, but it can only be a matter of time before the mainstream PC vendors release their `new' models with effective price rises. Several direct-sell vendors, such as Carerra and Time, have already boosted their prices on some memory-rich machines by as much as 60 pounds.
This is good news for the dealer channel as, for a short while, it greatly relieves the price pressure on their branded sales.
Talking of price pressure, it seems that Software Warehouse has all but dumped its fledgeling Web site for customers, following the launch of Jungle.com, its new Web portal operation.
The Web portal, which offers heavy discounts on hardware and software to end users, launched itself at the end of August with a 10 million pound software giveaway, and claims that its prices are up to 40 per cent below recommended retail.
Software Warehouse Web site customers are now being rerouted to the www.jungle.com Web site, simply because the division's prices are much cheaper.
Fujitsu partners with BT on Internet rental deal
Fujitsu has tapped a new route to market by teaming up with British Telecom to offer a PC, modem and Internet access deal for 25 pounds, 99 pence a month.
As well as getting a Fujitsu multimedia PC and modem installed at their homes, users also get access to the Internet at BT's standard rates, with free calls all weekend.
The free weekend Internet calls is already available to subscribers to BT Internet service - at a cost of 11 pounds 75 pence a month - which shaves around 40 per cent off the effective price of the package.
The downside of the deal - from the punter's perspective - is that it's a three year contract. However, punters do get a free home installation visit from a PC/Internet tutor.
As well as paying 25.99 pounds a month (equivalent to 936 pounds over the three years), users can elect to pay a discounted price of 751.30 pounds upfront with no extra charges over the three year's Internet access deal (apart from normal phone costs).
Brian Taylor, managing director of Fujitsu Computers, said that the deal includes an Intel Celeron 400 MHz processor PC with 64 MB of memory and a 4.5 GB hard disk. Also included is a 56k modem, speakers and a 15 inch digital colour monitor.
On the software side, users get the loan of Windows 98, MS-Works, Word 97, BT Internet suite, Internet Explorer 5.x and Outlook Express.
Dan discovers colour adds sales
Dan, one of the UK's major direct-sell PC vendors, has borrowed the concept of colour PCs from Apple and is offering a choice of three cool colours for its built-to-order machines.
All the firm's new machines, the Xplora Plus and Home Plus series, are available in three translucent colours: aubergine, aquamarine and grenadine.
John Shepheard, the firm's sales director, said that the colour option has been a direct result of listening - and reacting quickly - to the company's customers.
"Customers asked us for new style options for the home and we think our ranges offer the best possible answer," he said, adding that, as well as home users, schools have started asking for the coloured PCs.
Y2K software supplier teams with PC World
Greenwich Mean Time, arguably one of the prime movers with Y2K software, has teamed up with PC World, the high street PC retailer, to market Y2K solutions software.
The move marks the first time that a reseller chain has pro-actively promoted Y2K software. Backing up stocks of GMT's Check 2000 PC and Check 2000 PC Deluxe on sale in all PC World stores, both companies are staging a series of roadshows.
Frank Keenan, group marketing manager with PC World's parent company, Dixons, said that many of the firm's customers have heard about the year 2000 problem and are concerned that their PC setup at home might not come through the date change.
GMT's products are technologically advanced yet they've been designed for use by people with no specialist IT skills, appealing to the average home user," he explained.
Datrontech hits problems
Long-standing distributor Datrontech has hit a crisis of confidence in the industry, with at least one credit insurer withdrawing its support for hardware vendors trading with the firm.
Despite the move, which made the headline story in Microscope, the UK's weekly computer trade paper, Datrontech's veteran CEO Mark Mulford has denied reports that he is taking a more `behind-the- scenes-role' in the company's operations.
Meanwhile, PC Dealer, Microscope's arch-rival in the computer dealer paper stakes, reports that Datrontech is talking with its suppliers before it releases its half-yearly sales and profits figures. PC Dealer suggests that the results will disappoint `the City,' and could lead to a management shakeup.
PC sales continue to ride high says Context
Research firm Context's Q2 report for 1999 shows that around 6.1 million PCs were sold in Western Europe during the quarter.
While the figures reveal that overall West European PC demand is soaring by around 21 per cent a year, it also shows that small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are buying PCs on the back of the Y2K problem.
Worryingly, however, Context's UK figures show that direct-sell vendor Dell Computer has pushed Compaq into second place, suggesting that direct sales are climbing faster than indirect.
Or are they? Delving into Context's figures reveals that consumer PC sales are slackening, while business sales are accelerating, thanks to the aforementioned Y2K problem.
Context reports that the product area profiting most from this evolution were lower-end, expandable PC servers, with SMBs increasingly developing the need for a stable network environment.
In terms of PC units shipped, Context says that Europe's three largest PC markets even out-performed the high growth rates achieved last quarter.
France remained the leading market in terms of growth, achieving a year on year rate of 25.4 per cent, followed by Germany with 22.3 per cent and the UK with 21.5 per cent.
Toshiba bows to pressure and goes two-tier
Eight years after its abandoned its distributors in favour of a direct-to-dealer sales operation in the UK, Toshiba has moved back to using distributors to handle its growing dealer base.
The move has been rumoured in the computer trade press for several weeks, but the big surprise was that Computer 2000 has become the first distributor to handle Toshiba's products.
Alan Thompson, director of Toshiba UK's PC division, said that the move was taken after the company realised that the days of only using hybrid sales outlets is over,
The move brings Toshiba UK into line with its West European country operations and will almost certainly put an end to the grey market imports from Europe being sold at discount prices, mainly on London's Tottenham Court Road outlets.
Toshiba claims it's not abandoning its hybrid (sales/distributor) outlets and plans that Computer 2000 will start supplying them in time. It will be interesting to see which way the profits start to split when this happens.
Fujitsu Computers, 0044-1344-475000 (GB), http://www.fujitsu-computers.com;
Dan Technolog, 0044-181-830-1100 (GB), http://www.dan.co.uk;
GMT, 0044-1329-825468 (GB), http://www.gmt-2000.com;
Dixons, 0044-1442-354515 (GB), http://www.dixons.co.uk;
Context, 0044-171-343-8063 (GB), http://www.context1.com;
Toshiba, 0044-1932-825148 (GB), http://www.toshiba.co.uk