Acer expects its business in southern Africa to show rapid growth following the finalisation of the distribution agreement for the region between itself and CASE-Tarsus.
The international PC vendor expects to see its relationship with CASE-Tarsus produce results in the rest of southern Africa as strong as its distribution agreement with Tarsus Technologies has achieved in SA.
CASE-Tarsus will aggressively targeting countries where it has established direct operations, including Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It will also look to sell into countries such as Angola, Malawi and Mozambique.
Gary de Menezes, channel director at Acer, says: "Acer around the world has experienced excellent results from its decision to move away from a direct sales and distribution model to a completely channel-centric approach.
"In SA, we have seen our notebook sales grow by 200% and we have moved into the number two position in that segment of the PC market since January, when we appointed Tarsus as our sole distributor for the country. We believe that the relationship with Tarsus` sister company, CASE-Tarsus, in the rest of southern Africa, will be similarly successful."
Says CASE-Tarsus managing director, Tony Jordan: "Southern Africa offers both vendors and distributors a great deal of potential business, provided that they take the right approach to the market. At CASE-Tarsus we have staffed all of our offices with local people. We recognise the importance of providing a flexible business model that allows us to easily adapt our IT solutions, invoicing procedures, transport and importation methods to the specific needs of each country."
Jordan says Acer`s decision to pursue a pure channel strategy for the region rather than the hybrid model of direct and channel sales that most hardware vendors have adopted will give the PC manufacturer a major competitive-edge.
Acer has also appointed a strong network of warranty service partners for the region, and left enough flexibility for CASE-Tarsus to price the products competitively for each region, he adds.
"The market has been awaiting finalisation of our appointment for some time. Now that it is a reality, and the model is clear, we expect a significant improvement in sales of the Acer brand, particularly in countries where activity has stagnated during the period of change," concludes Jordan.
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Tarsus Technologies, the value-add distribution arm of MB Technologies, is rated by suppliers and channel partners as SA`s leading hardware distributor for its stability, service ethos, product knowledge, excellent support, competitive pricing strategies and channel focus.
Distributing a wide range of products from the world`s leading manufacturers, including Acer, APC, HP, IBM, OKI, Samsung and Tally, and supplementing this range with its own brand - the Tarsus PC - Tarsus focuses strongly on long-lasting partnerships with its suppliers and resellers. In line with this philosophy, Tarsus provides a comprehensive range of services to its resellers that enables them to add value to their own offering, and assists them in growing their business.
It is this service offering that has afforded Tarsus a number of channel accolades. The latest include: Channel Executive Awards - 2002; Best Distributor Overall - 2002; Compaq`s "BDG Distributor of the Year" award - 2001 and CRN Outlook Awards - 2002.
More information about Tarsus is available at http://www.tarsus.co.za.
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