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NEWS


Indies slam Tesco’s new mobile IT support service


Supermarket will squeeze margins and provide poor value for money, specialists say By Nicky Trup


“Paying good tech people is not the same as buying vegetables – a salary commensurate with the skills of the employee is essential to


good service.” Maureen Marshall, Stem Computer Systems


TESCO’S NEW home IT support service will deal yet another blow to independent repair specialists, the trade has warned. The ‘Tesco Home Services’ pilot


scheme launched in Swindon last month. The supermarket is partnering with local businesses to provide mobile assistance with everything from pest control to computer repairs, receiving a commission on every job. So far, 15 tradespeople have signed up, one of whom is offering IT support. A spokesperson for the supermarket


told PCR that while it is “very much a one-store trial at this stage”, the scheme will be rolled out nationally if it proves successful. However, local IT service firms are


not happy, claiming that if the scheme goes national it will squeeze already tight margins. “If they plan to undercut the local


competition we will have to drop to match them, which will not be easy


Foxconn: ‘We’re here to stay’


HAVING LONG kept a low profile in the UK, mammoth Taiwanese manufacturing group Foxconn is looking to expand its British presence with a two- pronged approach, taking in both its branded products and a new white-label scheme it is preparing to unleash. Having reorganised its operations – a hiatus that led to rumours that the company was preparing to pull out of the UK market – Foxconn has been able to organise a “flexible and focussed” new approach to the market, and is keen to


support lower-level system integrators and resellers. To do so, it is offering a range of products that aim to take the hassle out of building PCs from the ground up, while maintaining a high level of quality to reduce after-sales service costs. “What we’re now looking to do is


provide the barebone products for channel customers,” Foxconn’s UK managing director Stephen Ling told PCR. “Foxconn won’t brand any finished product, so what we’re trying to do is provide a range of barebone products


that people can then turn in to their own solutions and brand it themselves. “Resellers and independent system


builders need the solutions to compete with the tier ones. At the end of the day everyone wants to make sure there’s a healthy channel there.” The first of these white box products


to hit the UK is the NT330 net-top box, which will initially be branded and sold by Maplin. The vendor is also looking to boost the presence of its branded motherboards and cases in the


Foxconn’s UK MD Stephen Ling


UK as it continues to raise the profile of its own brand. “We’re here to stay,” said Ling.


“Foxconn never really went away, we’ve just been a little bit quiet.”


with things being a bit quieter due to the economy,” said David Gillespie, managing director of Enhance Systems in County Tyrone. Maureen Marshall, a director of Stem


Computer Systems in North Yorkshire, added: “Their intention is to always make the biggest margin with the smallest cost involved. Paying good tech people is not the same as buying vegetables – a salary commensurate with the skills of the employee or subcontractor is essential to providing a good service. I can’t imagine Tesco understanding that.” However, Jat Mann, managing


director of the PC Pal franchise, is more concerned about the quality of the service. “We would view with some caution the idea that Tesco will be able to provide the same affordable, value for money service that PC Pal and others do, and build up that all- important trust with the customer,” he told PCR.


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