Tiny customers can go to Watford for support

The electronics firm has bought the Tiny and Time brands, increasing its share of the consumer PC market

Watford Electronics has obtained the assets and trading rights of defunct PC brands Tiny, Tiny.com and Time (CRN, 1 August) and is aiming to leapfrog rivals Mesh and Evesham to become the UK’s largest PC manufacturer.

Shiraz Jessa, managing director of Watford, told CRN that the Tiny brand would be added to Watford’s existing PC portfolio, which comprises Aries, Carrera and PowerXS, but that he was unsure over the future of the Time brand.

“We felt the [Tiny] brand still had value and, by putting the right infrastructure support and services in place, we could make it successful. Not only will it increase our share of the mainstream consumer PC market, but will significantly increase our buying power, which at the end of the day means future customers will benefit from lower prices and better quality products,” he claimed.

Watford has not bought the manufacturing facilities – these have been retained by Tahir Mohsan, the original owner of Tiny.

Jessa said that Watford will support the existing 250,000 Tiny customers in the UK. “We’re asking all customers who have an outstanding warranty to register their details with us; we’ll contact each and every one as soon as a decision regarding the provision of ongoing support has been made.”

Nicolas Walter, a representative from rival Mesh Computers, was unconcerned. “Tiny’s customer base has at last got the much-needed

ongoing support it deserves, and purchased. Whether or not the Tiny brand name still possesses enough equity though to produce the desired return on this investment has yet to be seen. We look forward to competing once again with the Tiny name in the months ahead,” he said.

Carolyn Worth, external relations manager at Evesham, said: “It’s a brave man who takes on the mantle of the Time/Tiny reputation with consumers. From what we know, much of the original workforce has been absorbed by other companies, so there is likely to be a struggle to re-establish with resellers.”