Fujitsu Ltd is making changes to the way it sells its peripheral products. Firstly, it is centralising control of European sales and marketing activities for low-end printers in Munich. Second, ICL Plc’s wholly-owned personal computer products distributor, Technology Plc will now sell Fujitsu’s complete range of peripherals, including the low-end printers mentioned above (CI No 2,102). The decision to move control away from local subsidiaries to Germany is the direct result of tight margins on low-end products. The aim is to cut costs by benefiting from economies of scale. According to Fujitsu sales and marketing director Iain Bowles, some job losses will result, although he is not yet sure how many. But people will be redeployed where possible, he said. European subsidiaries will continue to offer local support to their distribution networks, all of which will be retained. Bowles added that the new European Printer Business Group will initially exist as a business unit within Fujitsu Deutschland GmbH, but may later be spun off as a separate company. Meanwhile, back in Britain, Technology is to sell Fujitsu’s complete range of computer peripherals to end-users, value-added resellers and dealers. The products will also be sold via Technology’s ‘open and direct’ catalogue, launched this month. The objective here is to raise the profile of the company’s products in the UK marketplace. Bowles said that Technology was unique in that, unlike other Fujitsu distributors and resellers, it does not specialise in only one or two product areas. Fujitsu’s peripherals line comprise disk drives, dot matrix, ink-jet and laser printers as well as image scanners.
