Tesco raises stake in PC sales battle

Tesco will expand its PC sales trial to a further five stores in a move that will intensify the competition between Fujitsu Siemens Nixdorf for sales figures.

The five additional stores stocking Fujitsu machines will add to the previously announced five stores stocking Siemens Nixdorf PCs (PC Dealer, 5 August).

The stakes are high for the two vendors. Fujitsu already supplies tens of thousands of PCs to European supermarkets, but both vendors desperately want to gain a significant share in the UK supermarket sector.

One industry insider argued that if the trial does launch nationally, there were no guarantees that both vendors would be maintained by Tesco.

He added that the trial may not be to see how much the public like the idea of buying PCs in supermarkets, but how the two vendors do in a head-to-head race for sales.

A source close to the pilot scheme stated: 'At the beginning of the trial there was an understanding that only one vendor would be used for the national launch.'

He added that there was a definite sense of 'aggressive competition' between Fujitsu and Siemens Nixdorf.

Frank O'Brien, sales director at Fujitsu, said: 'The machines in the extra stores will be of a higher specification than those previously offered, but there'll be no price change from #800.'

Inteco analyst Peter Day commented: 'Whether the supermarket maintains both vendors depends on if it wants to offer the customer a choice of brands. There is still no real indication as to what kind of people are actually buying the PCs.'