Local distributor, Syntech, has been appointed exclusive South African distributor for European-based office and entertainment peripherals provider, Speedlink.
Speedlink's product portfolio includes sound systems, headsets, mousepads, keyboards, gamepads, joysticks and various other accessories.
"We are really delighted to have Syntech, one of South Africa's leading distributors, on board as a partner, and look forward to working with the company," says Speedlink CEO, Tim J"ollenbeck.
"Through this exciting partnership, we are glad that our end-customers can enjoy Speedlink products in South Africa just as easily as in the rest of the world."
Ryan Martyn, sales and marketing director at Syntech, says the companies see some opportunities in SA's "reasonably established" console and PC gaming market.
Recent research by PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) - Entertainment and media outlook: 2014-2018 - covering SA, Nigeria and Kenya, reveals while the mobile gaming sector is enjoying success in SA, there is a steady decline in the PC segment.
According to PwC, consumer spending in mobile gaming is expected to grow from R858 million in 2013 to R1.5 billion in 2018. It adds console gaming has seen stable growth in sales in the past four years. Digital sales are projected to account for 27% of total game sales for the console gaming market by 2018, the report reveals.
However, PC gaming revenue in SA will drop in value from R402 million, at its peak in 2012, to a forecast R360 million by 2018. This is, in part, due to a change in gaming habits, as more people are playing casual games on PCs via Facebook than buying games, PwC explains.
All forecasts have been built starting with the collection of historical data from a variety of sources, the company notes.
"We see an opportunity to grow the Speedlink footprint into these markets, along with traditional PC peripherals, through our retail, online retail and IT channel sales partners," says Martyn. "We believe the South African market will benefit from a well-priced, high-quality peripheral range to compete against the few brands that we have available locally. After researching several international brands, we concluded that Speedlink has the perfect mix of German quality products, innovative design and competitive pricing."
Syntech expects brand recognition to be the biggest barrier to entry for Speedlink. Speedlink is a leading brand in Europe but a new kid on the block in SA, Martyn notes. It will take some time for customers to recognise the brand and start to standardise on it as their peripheral brand of choice, he adds.
"We are confident Syntech's reputation for distributing and supporting leading international brands, along with our marketing plan for Speedlink, will support our expectations for growth. Building up consumer confidence takes time, and we view our partnership with Speedlink as a long-term commitment to building the brand in South Africa."
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