Tiny becomes Time becomes The Computer World

David Dorn notes that there’s been a shakeup in the PC Retail world, and wonders where it will end… in tears?

About a million years ago, I was at a computer show at the Alexandra Palace, exhibiting with Micronet 800, the online service that began all online publishing in the UK. As was ever the case, we original IT journalists used to walk the floors of the shows looking for new and exciting stuff to write about – not that it was too difficult, really, since in 1984 everything PC was new and exciting.

I well remember almost tripping over a wooden trestle table upon which sat a couple of British built PC rejoicing in the Opus brand name.

Later, in 1990, a company called Tiny came to my attention, jogging a memory of another trestle table at that show six years earlier, with a couple of very very small IBM XT clones on it – tiny, indeed. Opus and Tiny joined forces and began, under the Tiny brand name, to build a string of shops, as well as continuing the mail-order business that was so successful in those days.

I’ve also got memories of loads of emails complaining just how bad Tiny PCs were, how poor the after-sales service was, and so on.

In a parallel thread, I also have memories of a small PC company called Time entering the market, and buying up loads of other PC makers, one by one. Indeed, it seemed that that was Time’s raison d’etre – to buy up other makers and thus, in one swoop, both rid itself of competition and extend its product offerings.

Over the years, I’ve had a fair few Time PCs to review, and have ended up actually writing about only two of them. I’ve also had many hundreds, if not thousands, of emails bemoaning their products – and I can’t remember one praising them. Time actually issued a press release concerning this lack of satisfaction by consumers in its PC after Which? Magazine produced a report saying that Time customers were dissatisfied with their PCs. According to the release, this was because – and I quote – "Time customers are far more likely to be newcomers to the PC market, and also to have bought their PC bundled with other accessories such as printers or scanners. It's not surprising, therefore, that their expectations are perhaps a little higher than those of other brand owners, and that they can hit more problems with set-up and general use than others. It also figures then that they can end up feeling a little more disappointed with their purchase.”

Ah, so it's the customer's fault, then. Time itself reckons that 48% of its customers are first time buyers. Now, I’d have thought that anyone buying a complete system, everything included, should be able to expect it all to work together seamlessly, perfectly, and with absolutely no problems – after all, vendors don’t just throw the lot together without testing, re-testing, and tweaking to make sure it all works properly, do they?  And if, as Time itself says, 92% of Time PC owners bought their PCs bundled up this way, the company must have done all the research to get the bundles working correctly, mustn’t it?

Gone

Well, after 20 years or so of being around, one way or another, Tiny had to call in the receivers this week. It seems business was bad – very bad. Tiny had around 150 retail outlets in big shopping malls and high streets country-wide. Quite how much business they did I don’t know – and I have no idea how much repeat custom they got. Obviously not enough, if they couldn’t make a go of it.

And, as the receivers have come in, so Time, who, it seems, has been after buying Tiny for a few months now, made an offer and snapped Tiny up – probably at a bargain basement price, too.

Back again

Now, here’s the interesting thing. One of the two original companies has been very much in the Intel camp, while the other has been credited with being AMD’s largest customer in the UK. The joining of the two companies will, effectively, give Time a foot in both camps.

Did I say Time? Oops! They’re not going to branding their stores that way, it seems. There’s to be a new name for the shops that remain open (obviously, some will have to close – there’s little point in having two stores open in one mall). They’ll be called The Computer World

As I understand it, The Computer World will sub-brand into Time and Tiny – and I assume they’ll be aiming the brands at different segments of the market.

If I was them, I’d be chucking both brands into touch, and coming up with new ones.

So, we’re now in a position where, if you want to buy in the High Street, from a multiple (and many people do), the choices are going to be PC World, Staples or The Computer World. The latter is unlikely to carry the likes of Compaq, Packard Bell, IBM, Toshiba, Sony or any other worldwide brand name PC, while the former two do, in addition to their own brands.

And, since we, as a society, seem to prefer brand names, I harbour the suspicion that The Computer World may be fighting a losing battle in the long term.

Got a comment? Have your say in our message boards

^top

Have your say - click here

David Dorn