Why did LG Electronics lose Crane?

LG Electronics participates in the SoHo and sub-30 enterprise markets in United Kingdom. Their gear is imported to the UK by Crane and Capstan. The vendor enjoys a reasonable installed base in a market that is led by Panasonic and BT Versatility.

Recently, Crane announced its decision to severe relationships with LG. As reported by Comm Business, in a letter to its resellers Crane Chairman David George said:

“As you will be aware, Crane has communicated our intention to cease from the supply of LG products. In order to prevent a chaotic and disorderly market and transition, it has been agreed that Capstan will purchase all of Cranes inventory and will be the sole supplier of LG. We are no longer able to sell LG with immediate effect.

The sole UK distributor and importer for LG products is Capstan Communications. Any requests for support on LG product issues or queries must now be directed to Capstan.

Any outstanding and future technical support tickets, product issues, warranty requests, DOA’s and orders will be passed to Capstan with your consent.

Crane remains committed to continuing to support and build our LG maintenance & repair business and associated service contracts.”

It is interesting to note that Crane is happy to support its customers running LG gear, therefore protecting its customer ownership base. Apart from LG, Crane distributes Avaya, Mitel, Nortel and Samsung. This may help push Avaya's One-X quick edition.

It is believed that Crane was upset when LG Electronics announced the appointment of Capstan as a master distributor. While efforts were being made to diffuse tensions, I believe things didn't go as planned. Crane has over 20 engineers supporting 2000 LG maintenance contracts in the UK.