Arrow plunges into China, Taiwan

Arrow is a mighty distributor of CPUs and other products and has shown in the past it's ready to acquire lesser minnows swimming in the so-called channel.

The firm has 600 suppliers, 175,000 system integrators and resellers worldwide, and already has spread its tentacles into 40 different states, the Eco News says.

And in November it bought two Taiwanese chip distributors and opened an office in Taipei.

The aggressive moves by the giant distie has the backing of the New York HQ, the report added.

Arrow trades on Nasdaq as ARW.

It wants to increase its revenues to expand its grip on the semiconductor market.

It's a hard life being a distributor, as one executive at a smaller company Arrow acquired explained to us a year or two back.

You loathe the vendors upon which you rely, have to act as a credit agency on margins just a little slimmer than two per cent, and you're constantly at risk of losses because of the resellers who are your customers.

In fact, we suspect there has to be something peculiarly masochistic in the make up of anyone who wants to be in the distribution channel and live a happy and peaceful life... µ