Dell & Gateway
Hard on the heels of Gateway's departure from Western Europe this last few weeks, Dell Computer (www.dell.com) says that it too is hitting hard times.
Figures just in show that the direct-sell PC pioneer experienced a 28 per cent slump in profits during its second quarter, with more to come in its third quarter.
As a result, Dell says it has trimmed staffing levels across its European operation, despite the fact that non-US shipments recorded a 30 per cent rise during the second quarter.
The firm says that around 600 staff in Europe were laid off during the second quarter. These layoffs form part of the direct-sell PC vendors' plans to shed around 3,000 staff worldwide.
The bulk of these layoffs were in the UK and Ireland operation, so it seems that the days of soaring sales of direct-sell PCs may be drawing to close.
A couple of years ago, resellers would have drawn cheer from these problems in the direct-sell PC industry. These days, they represent a taste of the bloodbath to come in the indirect PC sales channel.
Tiny relocates PC manufacturing to Scotland
The problems at Gateway and Dell have also hit Tiny Computers, the retail/mail order vendor that claims to be the biggest PC manufacturer in the UK.
Sales are slipping in the retail market, which perhaps explains why the company has announced plans to relocate its PC manufacturing operations from the Far East to Scotland.
According to Andrew Walwyn, the firm's managing director, the decision to move PC manufacturing from China to Scotland's Fullerton Computer Industries was taken after the company realised the potential cost savings.
The first PCs from Fullerton's Prestwick, Scotland-based factory rolled off the production line at the end of August, and the contractor says the deal is worth 200 million pounds over the next five years.
Computer 2000 offers discounts for plastic payments
Computer 2000 has started offering resellers a discount on account payments made by plastic online. Effective immediately, the distributor has reduced the credit card surcharge to 1.0 per cent for those resellers paying their accounts online. This compares to 2.5 per cent over the phone.
The arrangement aims to encourage resellers to use the distributors' InTouch online service.
As an added incentive for resellers to pay `cash with order,' the distributor is also offering a 10 pounds reduction in its normal 14.95 pounds shipping charges for orders place online.
Alistair Brett, Computer 2000's sales director said that the online ordering system means that credit card holders can usually make savings on paying by cheque offline.
Computer 2000 says that many reseller customers use credit cards to pay for equipment as they provide a rapid method of financing business without having to extend credit lines or open new accounts.
... and streamlines its Irish operation
In parallel with the discounts to encourage its dealers to move their orders off the phone and online, Computer 2000 has also streamlined its Irish operation - apparently to cut costs.
The distributor has relocated most of its 15-strong Irish sales staff to its Basingstoke headquarters in the UK. Only three members of staff remain at the Dublin operation.
The move is a complete reversal of the company's strategy of the mid-1990s, when it devolved most of its Irish operation to Ireland in a bid to offer better localised service to its Irish resellers.
Now, only three field staff remain in Ireland, with all phone calls, support and logistics handled by the UK operation.
Computer 2000 says that Ireland remains a strong market for its sales, and plans to offer resellers the same high quality of service they have enjoyed before.
Julian Klein, Computer 2000's UK managing director, said that the changes mean that Irish resellers now have access to the firm's 140-strong telesales team, so call queuing will be a thing of the past.
HP slashes pricing on Jornada PDA range
Despite making gains earlier this year over its archival Palm Computing, the PocketPC industry is starting to flag. This perhaps explains why HP has slashed pricing on its Jornada 710 range by around 15 per cent.
Of course, sales of all types of PDAs, including WinCE/PocketPC devices, are not exactly soaring, but HP is clearly hoping the price cut will encourage more companies and retail end users to shell out for its Windows CE-driven machine.
Emmanuel Klotz, HP Computing's business unit manager, said that the price cuts are a commitment by HP to keyboard-form factor devices.
Compaq revamps SSP accreditation program
Right in the middle of transforming itself into a software and services organisation, Compaq has surprised its UK distribution network by announcing plans to overhaul its Select Service Partners (SSP) accreditation scheme.
Compaq isn't saying anything officially, but reports suggest the move is to `raise the bar' on reseller abilities.
The changes come as Compaq UK reported that 30 per cent of its revenues were coming from services.
The move is an interesting one, but with almost every major reseller and retail chain handling Compaq hardware, is not surprising in the great scheme of things.
Torridon hits the financial buffers
Torridon, the Edinburgh-based Internet connectivity distributor, has placed itself into liquidation for its own protection. The firm says it expects to find a buyer in the near future.
Torridon dates back to 1993 when the company opened as DRAM chip supplier, changing its name and refocussing on the Internet in the late 1990s when chip prices and margins hit rocky times.
Like many on the Internet scene, the company rode the Internet wave well, seeing its shares listed on the NASDAQ, and opening various new divisions as the dot.com expansion continued.
The firm is keen to stress that its' liquidation is voluntary and is being handled by Kroll Buchler Phillips, a specialist in the liquidation handling arena.
Microscope, a UK reseller newspaper, suggests that a management buyout may be on the cards for the firm, although it reports that almost 90 percent of the company's workforce has left over the last year.
Tekdata links up with Informer Systems
Tekdata Network Solutions has started reselling biometrics and other authentication systems from Informer Systems Limited (ISL) into the UK's health and defence marketplaces.
Initially, Tekdata, which is already the sole UK importer for Precise Biometrics' products, is handling ISL's SentriNET and e-SentriNET authentication systems.
Chris Bansai, Tekdata's product development manager, said that, by adding ISL's SentriNET range, his firm can now support a greater choice of networking environments.
"This enables us to provide end-to-end security for a greater number of customers," he explained, adding that biometric security is fast becoming the accepted norm for secure access to network and Web-based resources.
Dell, www.dell.com;
Gateway, www.gateway.com;
Tiny Computers, 0044-1293-827302 (GB), www.tiny.com;
Computer 2000 UK, 0044-1256-847777 (GB), www.computer2000.co.uk;
Hewlett-Packard UK, 0044-990-474747 (GB), www.hp.com,
Compaq UK, 0044-20-8332-3000 (GB), www.compaq.co.uk;
Torridon, 0044-131-451-1111 (GB), www.torriodonplc.com;
Tekdata Network Solutions, 0044-1782-254777, www.tekdata.co.uk