It wasn’t long ago that Synnex’s John Paget joined Avnet – February 2007, to be exact. Now, after less than two years, he’s stepping down as Avnet’s global president of technology solutions, effective immediately.
Taking his place will be Phillip Gallagher, who is an Avnet veteran after 26 years of working for the distributor – almost unheard of in this industry.
So what happened? True, the distie has been hit by the global recession, which resulted in disappointing earnings last quarter. But hey, who wasn’t disappointed? (Except, perhaps, Apple….)
Interesting, though, is that Paget spoke at an executive luncheon for Wall Street analysts in December, just before the holidays, and there was no talk of an upcoming departure. Instead, he talked about stuff like unified communications and cloud computing. Doesn’t really sound like someone who was planning on leaving a month later.
And it’s a bit odd that he’s stepping down immediately, while his replacement won’t start until March 2 (though supposedly he will assist through the transition period). In the interim, COO Rick Hamada will step in to fill the void. As for Paget, it’s not clear what he’s planning to do next.
Gallagher isn’t a newcomer to Avnet, though he’s spent most of his time on the electronics side of the business, rather than technology solutions. But he’s been through tough times before – he went through the 2001 bust, while he was with the electronics division, which was hit hard because of poor supply chain management. But he – like the electronics division – survived.
So will Gallagher take Avnet in a radical new direction? Apparently not. He doesn’t have plans to make any dramatic changes to the distie’s business model (which, again, leads one to ponder Paget’s departure).
What he will do is talk to employees and customers to find out what’s working and what’s not.
Back in October, amid the Wall Street meltdown, Avnet announced lower-than-expected revenues, along with Ingram Micro.
While Avnet’s revenues grew that quarter (versus the same period the previous year), net income fell.
At that time, Paget said the volatility of the market made it difficult to provide a longer-term view. However, Avnet reacted to the less-than-desirable news by taking cost-cutting measures across the company of three to five per cent.
But, for whatever reason – and we may never know the real reason – he’s no longer going to steer Avnet through these tumultuous waters. Gallagher will try – but he doesn’t have an easy job ahead of him. But, then again, who does?
