Now that sales of Apple Computer Inc Macintosh systems have declined from 3 million units to around 2.5 million a year, the company no longer needs its five US distributors, and so has reduced the number down to two. Those are Ingram Micro Inc, and MicroAge Inc, both of which are promising to add more resources to Apple sales and help Apple manage its inventories more efficiently. The other three: Tech Data Corp, Inacom Corp and Merisel Inc, will continue to sell Apple products outside the US or sell to niche market sectors, but will no longer be designated distributors on the US. Apple will also allow businesses spending over $2m a year to buy direct from Apple, rather than go through distributors. The limit was previously set at a minimum of $20m for dealers, or $4m for retailers.
