#Dear UK Dealer
6 messages in this thread
The following is a purported to be a letter sent to Amiga dealers in the
UK by David Pleasance, Managing Directory of CBM UK. This letter began
reaching dealers on Aug 5th. The validity of this letter is unknown to
me. Hopefully one of our UK members has seen or been told of this letter
by their dealer and can confirm.
———————————————————————-
Over the past few months the speculation about Commodore, and in
particular about the future of the Amiga, has been rife.
I would like to put "the record straight" so to speak, and bring you up to
date as to the latest position.
Our parent company, Commodore International Limited, and its subsidiary
Commodore Electronics Limited, are both in liquidation, under the
jurisdiction of the Bahamian Courts (C.I.L. and C.E.L. are both
registered in the Bahamas).
The liquidators, Delliotte Touche, are actively seeking to sell the assets
of both C.I.L. and C.E.L.
There are a number of bids in place for various combinations of the
assets. Colin Proudfoot and I, along with two senior executives of
Commodore International (but not Mehdi Ali) have made a bid, which if
successful, will give us the rights to manufacture, sell and market the
whole range of Commodore Products, past, present and future, on a
world-wide basis.
We have raised the necessary finance and believe we will be successful in
our bid to purchase this business. If we are successful, we will give
priority to our core business, the UK, and ensure that the loyalty that
has been shown to us will be rewarded.
Our budgets do include a significant level of advertising spoend, which we
will use to the very best effect.
The Amiga CD32, Amiga 1200, Amiga 4000 and CD 1200 will be produced and
sold during the Christmas period. It is anticipated that if all goes to
schedule, we will be delivering product around the first week of November,
possible the second week.
It is our belief that by far the majority of retailers will be out of
current stock by the end of September/early October, so there will only be
a short delay before new bundles arrive.
Rest assured, our plans include the best packs we have ever offered.
I know these are trying times for us all, but I give you my personal word
that we are doing everything in our power to ensure that not only do we
keep the Amiga family alive, but that we also lift the brand up to its
righful place at the top of the market where it belongs.
Thank you for your highly valued support, without which we would not have
a business worth fighting for.
Very best wishes
David Pleasance
Managing Director
Sales & Marketing
-sja
"Colin Proudfoot and I, along with two senior executives of Commodore
International (but not Mehdi Ali) have made a bid, which if successful,
will give us the rights to manufacture, sell and market the whole range of
Commodore Products…"
If Irving Gould is involved, I am going to buy a PowerMac. I also
appreciate their desire to prioritize their "loyal" UK customers, but the
fact is that Commodore International never deserved loyalty from the U.S.-
Advertise and grow in the US, or perish. What if the "new" management
continues to give marketing and distribution preference to small,
fragmented European distributors (who must have nice, low taxes due to
their smaller size) and refuses to give the resources to a US distributor
(which would have to be notably larger than any other C= distributor and,
yes, in a higher tax bracket)? I believe this kind of penny-wise
pound-foolishness is what brought down Commodore in the first place. If I
see one more Amiga ad in AmigaWorld, I will run (not walk) away from the
Amiga; Such a practice indicates their intention to placate existing
customers, not gain new ones.
Also, if the new makers of the Amiga are smart, they will perform the
trivial task of making it compatible (I mean _really_ compatible) with the
CD32 (a machine which was supposed to be on the _same_ platform as the
Amiga). What kind of a stupid company offers a 10,000-machine userbase to
attract CDROM developers _instead_ of a 3,500,000-machine userbase?!?!
I'll stop now before by blood pressure goes much higher.
-Chris
Steve,
I have been dependant on reading these message sections for news and rumours
over the past months, so it's nice to be able to contribute something for a
change. I don't know about the "Dear UK Dealer" letter, but today I received a
personalised "Dear UK Developer" letter from C= UK (specifically Joint MDs
David Pleasance & Colin Proudfoot). Broadly speaking the emphasis is less on
retailing and stock levels (BTW, there are already no more A4000s of any type
to be had from main UK distributors), and more on the future of the Amiga.
It says that they have not felt in a position to openly discuss their position
until they were more certain of the outcome. Clearly they now feel more
confident, and state that they hope to finalise the buy-out within 3-4 weeks.
They plan to continue R&D in the USA, with Sales, Marketing & Manufacturing
operating from the UK. They confirm that the current range of Amigas will
continue in production, and that development will continue on the AAA chipset
and future generation machines…
Several Launch Events will be held to fill in the remaining details of their
plans. More details in 3-4 weeks. We will just have to wait some more….
Martin Kay, ZEN Computer Services
Martin,
Thank you for that info.
I've been told that there are less than 50 A4000s in the US distribution
network at this time and that they have been committed (but not yet shipped) to
buyers. My dealer tells me that he's being offered A4000s out of Canada (the
LC version) but the asking price is $800 higher than the wholesale pricing on
A4000/40s (when they were available from US distributors).
So, what's the going price on a decked out A4000 with a Video Toaster? Are
they going for above retail because of supply?
-Rusty "Guy with a decked out A4000/Video Toaster" Williams
For what it's worth, I had the same letter that Martin had from C= UK, and
would have posted a copy here if nobody else had already done so. Let's hope
something of substance comes of it and soon.
Robert Clay