Midwich hunts out additional vendor
Distributor signs with Toshiba to offer LCD and DLP technology
Norfolk-based audiovisual (AV) distributor Midwich has added another vendor to its stable as it looks to push into new markets.
The company, which already partners with Sanyo, NEC, Panasonic and Epson among others, has signed an agreement with Toshiba to become its main AV-focused distributor.
Under the terms of the deal, Midwich will offer Toshiba's Digital Light Processing and LCD projector range, including wireless and home cinema products, and its document camera technology to its network of resellers.
Midwich will also supply Toshiba's Ceiling Security Sharing Kits that allow businesses to transfer projectors from one room to another and then lock them away securely when not in use.
Darren Lewitt, AV business manager at Midwich, is bullish about the deal.
"We have been distributing AV products for nine years and originally started with one vendor, but following the threat from broadline distribution we decided to expand our product range," he said.
"We already stock four of the top five brands, but the lure with Toshiba was the opportunity for incremental business in new markets. It brought something different to the table, and we want to get into different sectors, so the partnership makes sense."
Lewitt claimed since its partnership with Panasonic the vendor has moved from ninth position in the market to the top five. Midwich plans to help Toshiba reach a top-five position too.
Andrew Upshon, sales manager for the projection and display technologies group at Toshiba, said: "We have been looking to expand our distribution channel for some time. There has been a lot of market shifting to the IT side, rather than the traditional AV route.
"Also, Midwich is one of the most successful IT distributors involved in AV." Greg Finney, managing director of rival Toshiba distributor SplashAV, said there is room in the market for another distributor since the vendor ended its relationship with distributors Steljes and Anders & Kern earlier this year.
"Midwich is very strong on the IT side of AV, and there is plenty of scope for it in the market, whereas we are more a specialist distributor and are totally focused on the AV side," he said.