As was forecast in July, (CI No 2,215), Apple Computer Inc has opened the floodgates to channel the majority of its product range through distribution: Ingram Micro (UK) Ltd and Frontline Distribution Ltd have scooped up rights to distribute more or less everything bar the high-end servers, Unix systems and the retail-oriented Performa range; Apple has dealt with Frontline before, selling its Windows-based printing products through the Basingstoke, Hampshire-based company alongside another distributor, Qudis Bytech Ltd of Bracknell, Berkshire; the manufacturer, which is looking for an additional 200 dealer outlets through its new partners by the end of its current fiscal year in September 1994, will be using the two recruits as a sales path for the Newton, too; interesting, though, that Apple works with both Ingram and Merisel Inc in the US and that Merisel didn’t get picked for the UK market; Richard Bradley, the distribution specialist for Apple in the UK, listed selection criteria as the capacity to offer credit, scaling to vendor needs and the excellence of the logistics machine.
