Bob Morales

Zilog had not been getting as much engineering attention as it wanted from the four distributors it formerly franchised , and there's a lot of investment in managing multiple distributors , says Bob Morales , Zilog's worldwide sales and distribution marketing manager.So , in 1999 , Zilog alerted its customers that it would be phasing out its distribution business with Avnet , Future Electronics Inc. ( No..3 ) and Unique Technologies LLC..For Zilog , the exclusivity with Pioneer means that a number of distributors aren't competing for the same design win.For Pioneer , it eliminates the possibility that another distributor will get the production order.

Since the program kicked off , Zilog has seen a 20% to 25% improvement in the number of its design wins.
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It used to take us 10 opportunities just to win one , says Morales.Zilog does 45% of its business through Pioneer.Four years ago , 18% of its business went through four distributors.

Specialists , such as Nu Horizons and Insight Electronics LLC , San Diego , carry a very limited number of noncompeting semiconductor lines.Because of this , suppliers are more inclined to work closely with these distributors and in some cases , provide significant support.