Nokia sets deadline for future partners

Finnish vendor waits to decide on contracts for UK distributors.

Nokia Display Products has given its distributors until the end of the summer to prove they are worthy of a place in the vendor's drive to establish itself in the UK monitor market.

While Computer 2000, Imago Micro and Mentor distribute the Finnish company's monitors in the UK, they are not under contract.

Speaking after the vendor unveiled additions to its TFT and CRT monitor lines, Pete Gamby, UK product marketing manager at Nokia, said the decision to hold off on signing contracts with distributors followed the launch of the company's accreditation programme last October.

'We will give them three or four months to prove themselves, but whether we take them on full time depends on a number of things, such as whether we decide we want the value add at the distribution or reseller stage,' said Gamby.

Bob Johnson, marketing manager at Imago Micro, said: 'We've been a Nokia partner for a long time and I'm sure that if we put together a good package we can be a distributor for it in the future.'

Mentor was taken on board in November last year and at the time Nokia was also in discussions with Principal Distribution as the vendor admitted it had problems with stock availability and sales generation through the channel. (PC Dealer, 12 August 1998). The division has since established a buffer UK warehouse, operated through a third party in Essex, but its relationship with Principal has never got off the ground.

Gamby, who joined Nokia last month from rival monitor vendor Mitsubishi, added: 'We have lead times down to one day for our biggest selling products and our push to partner committed resellers has been very successful.'