TDK and PPCP go separate ways

Peripherals Electronics giant and UK distributor at loggerheads over reason behind termination of partnership.

The relationship between electronics giant TDK and specialistds over reason behind termination of partnership. portable peripherals distributor PPCP has ended amid disputes about who was responsible for the break-up the supply agreement.

PPCP announced last week that it would drop TDK's range of PC cards from 1 March. It claimed that the vendor was ignoring the needs of the channel.

PPCP also blamed TDK's concentration on OEM business and margin erosion.

The move coincides with the release of the TDK's PC card, the Global Pro ISDN, for use with BT Home Highway. The card, which provides mobile communications across the Windows platform, began shipping last week.

John Nolan, managing director of PPCP, said: 'There's simply not enough margin in TDK products for all its channel partners to actively sell them.

'The way its margins are heading, TDK's products will only be of interest to broadline distributors, not specialists such as PPCP.

Also, TDK has not been very successful in generating leads and pull-through business to support its channel, unlike some of its biggest competitors.'

But TDK claimed it had dropped PPCP. Keith Marsden, managing director of TDK Systems Europe, said: 'It was actually TDK that decided the relationship with PPCP would be ended. We looked at our future growth plans and PPCP didn't fit in with these.

'We doubled our UK distribution sales last year and have appointed Computer 2000 as one of our distributors. We didn't see that PPCP would be able to keep up with the growth rate. We wish the distributor success in the future.'

But Nolan countered the claim: 'We had a meeting with TDK where the relationship was ended. We had decided a week beforehand that we were going to drop TDK. Unit sales and margins were at the point where its products are irrelevant to our success.'

Nolan added: 'If TDK has dropped us, we've had nothing in writing to confirm it, which you would expect in such a case.'

PPCP is selling products from COM1, Smart Modular Technologies, Socket and Ericsson. The margins of these companies are much more acceptable, claimed the distributor.