Midwich rips up InFocus deal after Maverick appointment

But projector vendor claims market share had dropped under sole-supplier agreement with Midwich

Midwich has terminated its contract with projector vendor InFocus in response to its decision to take on Maverick as a second distributor.

InFocus re-appointed Maverick in February, ending its two-year exclusive relationship with Midwich, a setup the vendor claims had led to a decline in its market share.

Darren Lewitt, audiovisual director at Midwich (pictured), claimed the arrival of a "broadline" distributor into the InFocus channel had eroded channel margins and confirmed Midwich has now ended the relationship.

He also argued that InFocus was struggling to keep pace with rivals with its projector line-up.

"Not having vital projectors in key product sets, like the ever-expanding, ultra-short-throw market has been a problem for InFocus' education aspirations and has no doubt had a major impact on their brand development," said Lewitt.

InFocus previously worked with Maverick between 2001 and 2008 before it appointed Midwich in 2009. It claims it was shipping about 17,000 units through Maverick in 2007, but that annual shipments had fallen to 2,000 under Midwich.

Jeremy Farren, vice president of international sales at Infocus, said: "Over the two years that InFocus has exclusively distributed our products and solutions through Midwich we have seen our market share decline and we attribute this mainly to price uncompetitiveness and lack of commitment to the brand."

Farren also dismissed the suggestion that InFocus had fallen behind competitors, stressing it has released eight new projector models this year.

"InFocus continues to invest heavily in its front projection line-up with, for example, the only second-generation interactive projectors on the market - our short-throw IN3914 and IN3916 with 3D capability," he said.

"We look forward to our return as a market leader in the UK through our partnership with Maverick and our ability to offer competitive reseller channel margins and the best possible feature value."

Lewitt argued that Midwich had achieved its task of growing InFocus' sales at the mid- to high-end of the market.

"InFocus made the decision to pull out of the entry-level projector market moving into mid to high end sectors. It always knew its volumes would be significantly reduced as a result."

Lewitt added: "Midwich feel that it is the wrong decision to re-appoint a broadline distributor at this stage as it sends out the wrong message to the channel. It is also very surprising given that it was less than two years since InFocus pulled out of broadline distribution and shifted to a new high-end strategy. Midwich wish InFocus all the best in the future and thanks them for their support over the last two years."

Neil Hartigan, channel director at rival projector vendor NEC, which works with Midwich, said: "The decision by Midwich to end their partnership with InFocus allows them to concentrate on their brands with a solid channel strategy."

Mark Harris, UK country manager at InFocus, said the vendor may look to appoint a second distributor in the coming months, based on Maverick's performance.

Maverick declined to comment for the story.