Elcot calls off deal with channel

In a startling turn of events, Elcot has called off its much-hyped tie-up with
the channel community for supplying high configuration, low-cost laptops to the
student community. Earlier this year, Elcot had expressed its desire to work
with the channel. Last week Confed-ITA called an executive committee meeting to
discuss the deal. Nine of the 14 associations of Confed had voted in favor of
the tie-up. But now the corporation's sudden decision comes as a surprise as it
was the one who had initiated the partnership to ensure good reach for the
scheme.

C Umashankar, MD, Elcot is said to have sent a mail to Confed-ITA conveying
Elcots desire to withdraw from the deal. When contacted, S Karthikeyan,
President, Confed-ITA confirmed the news. “I received a mail from the MD of
Elcot, who expressed his inability to work with Confed-ITA in taking the student
laptop scheme forward,” Karthikeyan informed. He added that the channel
community understands Elcot's decision. “We are happy to know from Umashankar's
mail that Elcot will extend all the necessary help in future to the channel
community. He also showed regret for the situation,” said Karthikeyan.

Among the associations that stayed away from the deal were Madurai,
Coimbatore, Tirunelveli, Tirupur and Vellore. Going a step forward, a few
associations even banned Acer products in their regions, accusing the vendor for
following dual trade strategy and demanded the same price as that offered to
Elcot. However, the EC committee decided to go with the deal after a majority
showed support for the deal.

The channel had hoped to capitalize on the deal, since the sales of laptops
had come to a virtual standstill after Elcot announced plans to supply high
configuration laptops for low-cost. The scenario took a turn for the worse when
end-users started returning the laptops they had bought after seeing the
advertisement from Elcot.

Meanwhile, Acer has approached the channel community and promised to bail
them out of this problem. “Confed has received a promising call from Acer
stating that it would bail the channel community out from the ongoing problems.
We do understand from Umashankar's mail that there was some technical error when
Elcot had called for a tender for the laptops. We look forward to work with
Elcot in future opportunities,” Karthikeyan said.

He also informed that there would be a meeting with Acer representatives this
week for finding a solution to the ongoing problem. “We can't expect our
executive members to travel so much, as already everyone is exhausted due to the
ongoing issues. We intend to meet with a few Confed executive members and major
Acer partners during the meeting scheduled for July 21 in Coimbatore. We are
waiting for a confirmation from Acer on the meeting and look forward to getting
a solution for the benefit of the channel community,” Karthikeyan informed.