The changing role of middlemen in the distribution of personal computers

Channels of distribution evolve over time in response to changes in the business environment. The internet has emerged as a new channel system and, as E-commerce unfolds, new business models replace traditional ones. In this new channel system, the consumer has attained greater power over traditional channel intermediaries. New cybermediaries have emerged to perform some of the traditional channel functions, and are better able to provide the consumer with greater value through cost efficiencies, timely information, and a broader choice of products/services offered in a worldwide marketplace. Traditional channel intermediaries must now either adjust or face elimination according to the intermediation–disintermediation–reintermediation (IDR) cycle. The purpose of this article is to review the IDR cycle in the personal computer (PC) industry and to discuss some of the new business models that have emerged.