Matrox switches to Frontline after Imago split

Canadian multimedia hardware vendor Matrox and distributor Imago Micro have ended their relationship, with Frontline replacing Imago.

The split first emerged when Alan Brown, MD of dealer CSS, approached Matrox directly to buy PC multimedia graphics and video cards. While a member of Matrox? staff recommended Imago last week, the distributor told CSS that it had ditched Matrox ?because it had become unreliable with its deliveries?.

Robert Beecroft, Matrox distribution sales manager, said: ?We met with Imago and agreed there was no longer a good fit between us and that the value Imago added to our products was no longer appropriate to our strategy.? He denied that the relationship ended because of poor deliveries, describing the idea as ?complete nonsense?.

Imago MD Ian Vickerage agreed that a change in Matrox? strategy, as more emphasis was placed on its low-end Mystique graphics boards and less on the high-end Millennium boards that Imago was interested in, was responsible for ?putting the relationship on the back burner?. He conceded poor deliveries had been a problem in the past.

Beecroft said Matrox has ?effectively replaced? Imago with Frontline on its entire range, but he insisted ?the door remains open for co-operation in the future? with Imago.