Portable Computers is now Able to distribute

Portable Computers, a reseller which specialises mainly in notebooks, has launched a distribution arm called Able Computer Distribution, catering for the same market.

Tim Roots, founder and managing director of Portable Computers, explained to Var World why he is moving into distribution: "We were looking to grow the business and expand into another area of the market. Our choice was either to develop the SoHo market or to expand into distribution. We chose the latter primarily because we knew that our pre and post sales support would differentiate us from run of the mill distributors."

Root floated the idea of a portable-focused distributorship nine months ago, and says he was pleased with the initial response.

He denied that there would be any conflict of interests between the reselling and the wholesaling operations.

He conceded that hardware margins were tighter than ever, and said that much of Portable Computers' turnover has come from support and service, and he expects Vars to work to a similar model.

Root said: "Notebooks do need more support than desktops because they are more complex inside and are handled more roughly."