Components dearth hits Ingram's white box plans

Ingram Micro has been forced to delay the expansion of its fledgling Frameworks white box strategy because of the components shortages, leaving the distributor in danger of not meeting its financial and unit targets.

Ingram Micro has been forced to delay the expansion of its fledgling Frameworks white box strategy because of the components shortages, leaving the distributor in danger of not meeting its financial and unit targets.

The distributor kicked off Frameworks in April this year with the delivery of 1,000 PCs to Dixons. In addition to courting big retailers, Ingram also embarked on a drive to recruit smaller Vars for whom it will build own-branded PCs.

But Ruud van Nispen, European Frameworks sales and marketing vice-president at Ingram, admitted that a shortage of Intel chipsets, video cards and the Taiwanese earthquake had forced the distributor to put the expansion on hold for the next two to three months. He said the distributor has stopped taking on extra accounts to focus on existing customers - including Dixons and two small Vars - while Intel and its video card suppliers sort out their problems.

"We don't want to take the risk of short-changing existing customers. We want to make sure they receive the best service possible," he said.

Van Nispen said the shortages will affect Ingram's fourth-quarter targets - which traditionally produce the best sales figures for the year. But he added that he expects the programme to pick up again in the first quarter of next year.

Van Nispen claimed that while Frameworks will not be able to meet its unit targets for the year, it will not have a dramatic effect" on the distributor's bottom line as expenses will be deferred. "Because Frameworks was launched this year, we were expending as the programme was being launched. This way, expenses are being postponed." He also admitted the components shortage meant Ingram had been forced to increase its white box prices along with other PC vendors. But he denied this would damage Ingram's deal with Dixons, which is based on competitive pricing. "The whole market has to deal with these issues," he said.Van Nispen said discussions were ongoing with Intel, Taiwanese manufacturers and Ingram's video card suppliers to ensure the supply chain was re-established as soon as possible.