NEC Display President: We're Not Going Anywhere
"It's a very difficult time for any sector and every company. The unfortunate part is that there's been a misunderstanding," Richer said in a Channelweb interview. "People believe for some reason that LCD and monitors are the same thing. NEC Display is not going anywhere. We're a solutions company. We're here for the long run."
Despite a suggestion during NEC Corp's earnings presentation Friday that seemed to indicate NEC was exiting its LCD-related businesses in the midst of laying off 20,000 worldwide employees, NEC Display is not out of the LCD monitor business, Richer affirmed, although its product line has been cut down.
Richer also said NEC Display is more engaged with its channel partners than ever.
"We are a display company, but we source our products from various companies," Richer said. "We made our changes last spring, haven't lost any employees since then, and we've reinvested a lot of money into the channel. We revised our student program and also our SMB program. I think it's pretty clear."
Richer said NEC Display was focusing more on large formats -- the company recently announced an 82-inch LCD and on Monday announced an ultra-narrow bezel in a 46" X451UN display -- and also software for digital signage. It would continue to make improvements to its channel program throughout 2009, he said.
"LCD doesn't equal NEC Display Solutions and when we started reading the online comments, [people] were getting the wrong impression," Richer said.
"NEC's consistently shown ProActive an ongoing commitment, so I haven't been disappointed yet," said Marc Wolfe, CEO of ProActive, an Oakland, N.J.-based solution provider and NEC partner. "I've been with companies through financial trouble. Maybe it's old school of me, but I look at building a relationship. They've committed resources and committed team members to work with me on large deals. I've called people higher than my sales reps and been able to interact and been able to move things forward."