Trend and equIP split up after one year
Unreached targets cited as reason for end of distribution deal
Distributor equIP and anti-virus hardware and software maker Trend Micro have ended a one-year distribution agreement. Both companies cited failure to meet expectations.
The companies said they had not reached their targets and have mutually agreed to split. The development leaves the vendor with Sphinx, Unipalm and e92plus as UK distributors.
Phil Watts, channel and retail manager at Trend Micro UK, said: "This was a mutual parting. It is not that we did not get on, or that equIP did not do a good job. But the business objectives were not reached."
The vendor is not seeking a replacement for equIP, he added.
Graham Smee, director at equIP, said the business did not grow as expected. He added that the distributor will not look for a new anti-virus partner.
David Ellis, director of e-security at Trend Micro distributor Unipalm, which has more than 30 reseller partners accredited by Trend, said he believes Trend Micro still has enough distribution partners to cater for the UK market.
"This does not surprise me because equIP plays in the same space as e92plus and Sphinx, and they all distribute NetScreen appliances," Ellis said.
He added that Trend Micro will not be under-distributed as a result of the split. "In the corporate sector Trend still has more than enough coverage," he said.
Lee Harrison, business development director at e92plus, said Trend Micro was over-distributed and needed to drop a distributor.
"The reason equIP was signed was to give the vendor access to the networking resellers, but that did not work out," he added.
Harrison said Trend Micro has recently launched products that will take it into the SME market.