Pinnacle Micro, which recently announced it had landed the southern African and rest of Africa distribution rights for Taiwanese-based RiDATA's range of optical media and flash memory products, said it is aiming to command 20% to 25% of the estimated R3 billion optical media within the next two years.
This is according to Hans Steyn, newly-appointed national business development manager at Pinnacle Micro. Said Steyn: "We have been working on bedding down this distribution agreement for some time now at it was seen as vital, from a strategic view, for the company. Since being appointed as the local distributor we have been busy setting up all the required processes and inventory to ensure we can properly supply our reseller chain and deliver optimum performance and service to the end users out there. We have already started to sell product into various government departments but we are naturally also looking to expand in the SME and corporate market spaces."
RiDATA is seen as one of the leaders in the optical media market, manufacturing its own product range - which Steyn believes is an "absolutely vital edge for Pinnacle".
The company has already invested $180 million in a state-of-the-art technology manufacturing facility in Vietnam - its first overseas facility outside of their four facilities in Taiwan. This facility also manufactures the latest technology, Blu-ray. "Blu-ray is the latest technology and, in fact, it has literally killed off HD-DVD technology, even though this was still deemed to be leading-edge technology and was strongly supported by companies like Toshiba. But, while HD-DVD is a good technology - and still new - Toshiba chose to scrap the technology at an expense of many, many millions of dollars. You won't, for instance, find any HD-DVD products at Walmart - Walmart is just one of the retailers who has cleared its shelves once Toshiba took the decision to desert the technology. So Blu-ray is the latest. This is where the future market is going."
Steyn said this does not mean the absolute death knell for CD and DVD technology, particularly in Africa, which is "playing catch-up in the overall technological game".
"CD and DVD technology will be around for some time yet. Indeed, it is actually in its infancy in many parts of Africa. We aren't seeing big volumes sold in the Blu-ray format yet," said Steyn, "but this will come. Within two years we want to command 20% to 25% of the optical media market in southern Africa. Thanks to our relationship with RiDATA - and due to its manufacturing and technological expertise - we believe this to be achievable.
"This," he said, "was an important strategic move for Pinnacle Micro and we believe the RiDATA range of optical media is going to make a big impact in the southern African industry - and in Africa as a whole."
Ritek Corporation - which manufactures the RiDATA range - is the world's largest optical media manufacturer.
RiDATA products are distributed and marketed globally. For years Ritek has been defining and redefining the storage media market. Globally, its name is synonymous with innovation, quality and unrivalled consistency.
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