UK punters cough up 30 per cent more than rest of Europe

Retailers and dealers are forcing UK customers to pay 30 per cent more for their PCs than other Europeans, according to Winfried Hoffman.

Hoffman, speaking at the recent show in Las Vegas, said retail and reseller prices are too high in the UK. 'People pay 30 per cent more than the rest of Europe and we want prices to go down.'

He said Pentium II-based computers should be priced below $1,000 in the UK. 'Off-the-page prices are still too high and most PCs in Britain cost about $1,000, against $700 in the rest of Europe. It is too comfortable in the UK. You know who owns the high street.'

His comments echoed observations from other sources and analysts, who claimed Dixons' dominant position in the UK PC retail sector allows it to negotiate advantageous terms to vendors, creating limited competition which in turn leads to higher prices.

Hoffman has advocated low PC prices for many years. He started a PC price war in Europe in 1994 when his German distribution company, Aquarius, introduced machines at prices 10 per cent below any other brand. He sold the company to ICL and joined its management in 1995.

Unisource, the partnership between PTT Telecom Netherlands, Swisscom and Telia Sweden, signed a $100 million deal in October to replace all its desktop and notebook machines with Fujitsu-ICL hardware.