TDK and Emme lead rush for UK software market

The UK will experience an influx of distributors over the next year as European and Asian companies make plans to cash in on the domestic market.

French publisher and distributor Emme is on an expansion drive and recently entered the Belgium market with the acquisition of distributor MediaMix and Australia with Ozisoft.

The growing trend comes at the same time as TDK confirmed its move into the sector (PC Dealer, 13 January). Masatoshi Shikanai, executive vice president of TDK Europe, said: 'The move follows TDK's strategy to consolidate its position as a brand leader in the field of blank recording media and expand into complementary entertainment business domains, targeting families and young audiences with the launch of edutainment software.'

Oliver Wright, president and chief operating officer at Emme, indicated that the company would be looking to launch the operation in the UK and Germany.

Ann Gilmore, area sales manager at Emme, added: 'We will be entering the UK market this year. In the past, it has been an area that has proved to be difficult. We will be moving in as both a publisher and distributor and will be making a significant investment in the market.'

She declined to comment on whether the move would be made via an acquisition, but confirmed that Emme would distribute Infogrames titles, as the French software giant had acquired 25 per cent of the distributor.

However, Infogrames was unclear as to how this move would affect its existing supply agreement with Centresoft. Stephen Hey, corporate communications manager at Infogrames, stated: 'We are expanding our UK operation, but I am unaware of this deal.'