G3 delay fuels fury in the Apple camp
Apple has been accused of ignoring the needs of its customers and partners after it left resellers in the dark over product shortages and revealed it was pulling out of Apple Expo UK for the second year running.
Apple has been accused of ignoring the needs of its customers and partners after it left resellers in the dark over product shortages and revealed it was pulling out of Apple Expo UK for the second year running.
Ron Collins, sales director at Apple reseller Callsaver, told PC Dealer he placed an order for Apple G3 PowerBooks through Ingram Micro more than six weeks ago and is still waiting for the product.
"Every day the story changes. When I first ordered the PowerBooks from Ingram I was told there was a slight shortage and would have to wait five to 10 days for them. From the original allocation date of 22 October it has been pushed back several times and is now 15 November. Ingram says there is no product coming through, but when I talked to Apple, I was told there were no delays," Collins said.
He claimed many dealers are suffering the same problems but are unwilling to talk about it.
"It's not so much the waiting for the product that annoys me, if only they could just be honest with people and tell us what is going on, instead of giving us the runaround," Collins said.
Andy Brown, analyst at IDC, said: "It's not just the PowerBook that's in short supply - it's the whole range. It's got to the stage where people are ordering two products for every one to give themselves a chance of getting the amount they want. The Taiwan earthquake hit Apple badly because of the limited number of suppliers it has for components. It is also failing to keep pace with itself in terms of anticipating the large demand it created from advertising."
He added: "Apple has a tendency to hide when things aren't going well. So far there has been no clear explanation. Pulling out of Apple Expo is a bad idea at this time, it could have used it to get its message across."
Apple was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.
- Apple has been contacted by an Independent Dealers Association dissatisfied with its treatment of resellers.