Research and analysis

Resellers respond to questions on Dell, European PC vendors and channel dynamics

Dell casts indirect spell

An outspoken champion of the direct sales model, Dell has been continuing its steady advance into the indirect channel, according to figures from Context Research. More than twice as many resellers in Europe were selling Dell PCs in May compared with 11 months before.

This was especially noticeable in the vendor's main European markets: Germany, France and the UK. In the latter, almost 24 per cent of resellers carried Dell. Although less than 10 per cent of UK resellers said they had been actively canvassed by the vendor, during the three months before May, 42 per cent said their customers had asked them to supply Dell kit.

Acer's convincing performance

Acer has established itself firmly as number two in the European PC channel, Context data shows, although its market performance was slightly lower in the UK, with 51 per cent of respondents saying they sold the brand. This, of course, indicates the vendor still has space to grow in this country.

Hewlett-Packard was also less strong in the UK than its European average, with 65 per cent of UK VARs carrying the brand. On the other hand, white boxes appear to be more popular in the UK than elsewhere in Europe, with 35 per cent of resellers in the UK selling unbranded kit.

Resellers under attack from retailers

The channel has faced increasing opposition from retailers over the past two years, thanks in part to the opening of business-focused departments within consumer outlets, mainly in the UK. Context's figures also suggest that the influence of the corporate reseller has been declining steadily as a number of vendors have gone direct and Dell's enterprise strategy has taken effect.

Further down the market, however, SME resellers remained effective sales outlets, with almost 40 per cent of total channel business passing through them in the second quarter of 2004.

To see the illustrations associated with this report please click here.

Contacts

To join Context Research's reseller panel go to www.contextworld.com/channelfacts/join or call (020) 8394 774.