Toshiba appoints Sahara Computers as retail distributor

Toshiba has appointed Sahara Computers, a specialist retail distributor in South Africa, as an official distributor for its retail range of laptops and peripherals in the country.

This collaboration reinforces Toshiba's commitment to make its range of consumer technology more readily available to South Africa's rising middle class. Sahara's expertise and success in furniture retail, as well as its national reach to independent retailers, will make the company's products and services more widely available to end-users, where there has been a growing demand for the Toshiba brand.

Jan Minnie, retail business manager for Toshiba Africa, says one of Sahara's key differentiators is its distributorship agreement with furniture retailers, which offers a wide range of finance options for customers, along with a wide range of sought-after home-related products and services.

“In an environment where credit is difficult to come by, many of the furniture retailers have already approved credit agreements with their customers, who can then leverage these agreements to expand their purchasing power,” Minnie says.

As South Africans become more and more technology savvy, Toshiba is seeing a surge in demand for robust notebooks that are supported by excellent service and comprehensive guarantees. Toshiba is now able to service this demand through the furniture retailers, which now offers its customers a comprehensive home technology solution as well.

“As part of our channel strategy to make sure our range of notebooks and supporting peripherals reach the people who are calling out for their functionality, our aim is to appoint the best partners in their respective fields to ensure that this demand is fed. Sahara meets all these criteria, as it shares many of Toshiba's values: leading innovation, quality and excellence,” says Minnie.

“We are thrilled to be collaborating with Toshiba, because it is one of the most respected technology hardware brands in the world,” says Sahara's Executive Director, Stephan Nel. “The network of retailers that Toshiba will be able to reach through this distributorship agreement will see their reach expand significantly, as the outlets we service are found across the country, from metropolitan and urban areas to smaller towns and villages.

“We are confident that Toshiba's excellent after-sales support will be a further differentiator, as together, we take the brand's superior technology to South Africa's people, wherever they are.”

With Sahara joining the ranks of Toshiba partners alongside Mustek, Incredible Solutions and Tarsus, Minnie is confident that Toshiba will become the brand of choice among consumers and corporates alike.

"Toshiba is known for its innovation and ability to deliver top quality products,” Minnie says. “Our qualification process has proven this, and with the competitive offering, we expect to take a sizable chunk of the South African retail market in the next 12 months.”