Mustek signs up Huawei, Lenovo

Listed computer distributor Mustek has inked distribution deals with Huawei Enterprise and Lenovo SA.

The agreements will expand Mustek's presence in the public sector, and add to its range in the small and medium business arena.

CEO and founder David Kan says the additions to Mustek's range are because “we want to grow”. He says the company is always on the lookout for products that add to its current offerings.

Mustek's range includes its house brand, Mecer, the Acer range of notebooks, APC UPS systems, Brother printers and faxes, Epson, Microsoft, Toshiba and NEC. It has a national distribution and service infrastructure, with offices in all major metropolitan areas across SA.

The distributor's agreement with Huawei allows it to sell its enterprise range in SA. The suite includes third-generation routers, switches, and solutions in the wireless, voice over IP, video conferencing and unified communication arenas, which will be available for resale in six to eight weeks.

Huawei Enterprise Business Group has a strategy of developing a channel sales model. Kan says Mustek wants to offer a total solution to corporates and the public sector, but was missing networking offerings.

Over the past decade, Huawei has grown to dominate the product and infrastructure side of the telecoms sector, but has had a low profile, says Kan. He adds its products are proven and will bolster Mustek's presence in the government sector.

CTO Dimitri Tserpes says: “Mustek has expanded its offering substantially over the past year, and adding an end-to-end networking solutions portfolio will support Mustek's expansion into South African emerging markets, including data centre computing, virtualisation and cloud computing.”

In addition to the Huawei deal, Lenovo SA and Mustek have signed a distribution deal that will grow Lenovo's presence in the small and medium business sector. Kan says Mustek is an active player in the arena and it makes sense for Lenovo to expand its presence through the distributor.

Lenovo SA country manager Henry Ferreira says: “We're targeting expansion in specific sectors, of which SMB is one of the most significant.” He adds the company has “no intention of taking our foot off the accelerator”.

Mustek will distribute Lenovo's full range of products on a national basis, with the Think range being aimed at small and medium businesses and the Idea range at retail outlets. Kan says the agreement allows Mustek to offer more choice to its customers.

Ferreira explains the partnership will accelerate Lenovo's penetration into the sector. “Mustek has a decades-long track record of serving that market and provides us, in a single partnership, with a breadth and depth of reach that would otherwise take us much longer to achieve.”