Parrot Names PCI and Rothman `Distributors of the Year' at 2007 CTIA
ORLANDO, Fla.--Parrot (Paris:PARRO), one of the world-leading innovators in wireless peripherals for mobile phones, is crediting its distributors for a large part of its rapid success in 2006, and has singled out two of them here at the 2007 CTIA as recipients for its Distributor of the Year award.
The two are M. Rothman & Company, Inc., in Ramsey, N.J. representing the eastern U.S., and Progressive Concepts, Inc., (a wholly owned subsidiary of Teletouch Communications, Inc. (PINK SHEETS:TLLE)) of Fort Worth, TX, representing the western U.S. for Parrot.
“Last year was especially significant to Parrot. We assembled a strong team of distributor partners who worked very hard to help us build the Parrot brand and expand our distribution,” says Ed Valdez, president and COO of Parrot, Inc. “It was a formative year for Parrot, one that set the stage for 2007 and what we believe is going to be an incredibly successful year for Parrot and its partners. We owe a lot to George Hechtman, COO at PCI and Larry Appelblatt, general manager of car audio at Rothman. Both are committed to the Parrot brand and share our vision for Bluetooth’s explosive growth.”
In establishing its Distributor of the Year program, Parrot set forth seven criteria for performance evaluation and scored each on a scale of 1-10 with some weighting involved to ensure fairness regardless of firm size. The criteria included tenure, sales revenue, distributor support, dealer support, company support, promotion participation and reputation.
“We’re honored to be named Parrot’s Distributor of the Year - West,” says Hechtman. “We’re in the cellular business and 12-volt business, so we sell to both channels and we pay a lot of attention to Bluetooth. We see continued sales increases through both our retail and wholesale distribution channels for at least the next 3-4 years. We think the future is further device integration using technologies like Bluetooth for wireless convenience -- with products and accessories like Parrot’s. Remember when we all thought Bluetooth was just for headphones?”
Teletouch’s PCI division has been in business over 30 years and sells cellular services as well as cellular and 12-volt products. The company serves consumers, as well as commercial and government accounts and its wholesales division serves dealers, expediters and retailers.
“The car audio business is under tremendous pressure with the excellent quality of OEM audio systems, as well as the influx of iPods and other devices, so traditional 12-volt retailers need some more tools in their bag. There is life beyond woofers, tweeters and amplifiers, and dealers are finally waking up to the opportunity in Parrot car kits,” says Hechtman.
M. Rothman & Company is also having great success in the East, says Appelblatt. “We are really pleased to have been selected by Parrot for its Distributor of the Year – East and are very excited with the rapidly growing awareness and popularity of Bluetooth in our area. We’ve carried the Parrot line for a couple of years, but last year things really started to take off for us.
“Legislation is having some affect in our area, but I think that the awareness of Bluetooth and its wireless, hands-free advantage is really driving the business, not only in automotive car kits but in home and office products as well. People simply want Bluetooth hands-free car kits. It used to be that Parrot’s CK3100 was our top seller, but now we’re seeing the Parrot 3200 LS-COLOR taking the lead. It’s a great product, and we are really looking forward to Parrot’s new car kits with streaming audio like the Parrot MK6000.”
Appelblatt knows something about the market. He’s been with Rothman for four years and in the industry since 1988. He started out on the manufacturer side and then moved into distribution.
M. Rothman has strong relationships with all the 12-volt specialists in its trading area and actively supports them with training and merchandising displays and materials.
Parrot offers the broadest portfolio of Bluetooth-enabled products available for home, office and car, and is the world’s leading manufacturer of installed hands-free car kits. The company just introduced the new Parrot BOOMBOX for home or office and recently launched a pair of stereo bookshelf speakers called the Parrot SOUND SYSTEM. Parrot also has the Parrot PHOTO VIEWER digital frames in both a 3.5” and 7” size, and its new Parrot CONFERENCE speakerphone for business use.
On the automotive side, Parrot just introduced the next generation of its 3200 series car kits, with the Parrot 3200 LS-COLOR PLUS which features Parrot’s proprietary Beamforming technology for best-in-class audio, and the Parrot MK6000, a car kit that accepts streaming audio from A2DP-enabled MP3 devices. A variety of new products are scheduled for introduction throughout the year. For more information, visit www.parrot.com.
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ABOUT PARROT
Founded in 1994, Parrot has rapidly established itself as a pivotal global player for wireless mobile telephone accessories. Drawing on its tried-and-tested expertise on voice recognition and signal processing technologies, Parrot was one of the very first companies to produce Bluetooth®-based wireless hands-free car kits, having identified this standard’s vast potential as early as 1999. In 2006, Parrot sold about 3 million units.
Determined to accompany wireless peripherals breakthrough into our day-to-day lives, Parrot has been developing since 2006 a new wireless range of sound and image products.
Today, Parrot truly has a major international focus: 90.5% of its sales are generated outside of France, and a large percentage of its production is outsourced to carefully selected partners, enabling it to achieve the best possible level of quality and responsiveness. Parrot is now particularly well positioned to capitalize on the bright future opening up for mobile telephone devices.
Parrot has achieved strong growth in its consolidated revenues, up from 80.9 million euros pro forma in 2005 to 166.9 million euros in 2006.
www.parrot.com Euronext Paris – Eurolist, Compartiment B: FR0004038263 – PARRO
ABOUT TELETOUCH COMMUNICATIONS
For over 40 years, Teletouch has offered a comprehensive suite of telecommunications products and services, including cellular, two-way radio communications, GPS-telemetry and wireless messaging services throughout the United States. Teletouch's wholly owned subsidiary, Progressive Concepts, Inc. (PCI), is a leading U.S. provider of wireless cellular voice, data, and entertainment products and branded wireless services to individuals, businesses, and government agencies. PCI provides these products and services through its chain of retail stores (under the "Hawk Electronics" brand), Hawk-branded agents, a direct sales force in Texas and Arkansas, and through the Internet at www.hawkelectronics.com. PCI also operates a significant national wholesale distribution business serving smaller cellular and automotive retailers, car dealers and cellular service providers throughout the country. Teletouch's common stock is traded on the OTC Pink Sheet electronic exchange under stock symbol: TLLE. Additional information about Teletouch and Hawk Electronics can be found at: www.hawkelectronics.com and www.teletouch.com.
®The Bluetooth word mark and logos are owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Parrot S.A. is under license. Other trademarks and trade names are those of their respective owners.