Specialized Distributors Tightening Lineups To Vie With Megacompanies -- Emphasizing Sharper Focus To Attract Buiness

NEC Electronics Inc., for example, is re-evaluating its North American distribution lineup with the goal of building a more concentrated business model that will bring it better demand creation and visibility among OEMs. Specialty distributors work well for NEC because its three divisions-Americas,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:EBN 2001-07 (1270), p.PG.4
Main Author: Patrick Walsh and Laurie Sullivan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acquisitions & mergers
Customers
Distributors
Electronics
Electronics industry
Manycompanies
Specialization
Suppliers
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Summary:NEC Electronics Inc., for example, is re-evaluating its North American distribution lineup with the goal of building a more concentrated business model that will bring it better demand creation and visibility among OEMs. Specialty distributors work well for NEC because its three divisions-Americas, Asia, and Europe-operate as independent companies, according to Lee Forsythe, national distribution sales manager at the Santa Clara, Calif., chip supplier. NEC Electronics' Americas division partners regionally with Arrow Electronics, Avnet, Bell Microproducts, and Future Electronics. The supplier also pushes products through two smaller distributors, Edge Electronics Inc., Ronkonkoma, N.Y., which focuses on microcontrollers, and Symmetry Electronics Corp., a Hawthorne, Calif., SRAM and MCU specialist with which NEC recently expanded its partnership. The benefit of going with a smaller distributor, NEC's Forsythe said, is that the sales team becomes expert in the product line because there are fewer suppliers on the line card. Many large broad- line distributors serve such a wide range of markets and applications that their technical expertise is diluted, according to Edward Richardson, chief executive of distributor Richardson Electronics Ltd., LaFox, Ill.
ISSN:1540-2118