SMC-Accton finalises local channel strategy

The sale of a majority share in SMC`s Systems Products Division to Accton Technology Corporation and the subsequent establishment of the joint venture, SMC Networks, may have raised questions in the minds of the local channel.

George Zervos, the new company`s MD: Northern Europe Operations (which includes this region), says that, as far as he is concerned, it is business as usual. "The only difference is that the Accton and SMC brands now fall under the auspices of a single company- an operation with two distinct brands and two distinct channels to market," he says.

By way of elaboration, Zervos says that while Accton and SMC have traditionally been engaged in workgroup and departmental networking, each has approached its markets in ways best suited to its product line.

"Accton has always concentrated on retaining its price-leadership and has consequently been strong in OEM business where the cost of individual components is important. It is also focused primarily on producing unmanaged products to provide basic networking functionality.

"SMC, on the other hand, is better known for its value proposition - providing feature-rich products while retaining excellent price/performance ratios. SMC has also concentrated on offering network products to fulfil the more complex needs of managed networks."

Accordingly, Zervos foresees no immediate need for change in local channel policy. "Accton has as its primary distributor in South Africa, one of your largest producers of PCs - Mustek. While SMC employs a single broad-band distributor (SDD) and several more specialised distributors namely: Datatech Westcon, HNR and LAN Design."

Local country manager, Greg Perkins, uses the analogy of the Volkswagen/Audi operation in this country and, indeed, around the world. "One company - two brands and two distinct markets for those brands," he says.

Perkins says the only change locally, as a result of the international agreement between SMC and Accton, is that SMC (South Africa) is now also responsible for the marketing of the Accton brand.