Printer hardware shipments to EMEA continue to contract in Q3 2016
Unit shipments of printer hardware to Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) continue to decline, falling by -4% year-on-year in Q3 2016, according to data published by CONTEXT, the European IT market analysis company. "Quarterly unit shipments to Western Europe (WE) precisely mirrored EMEA performance, although this is an improvement compared to the previous quarters, which register declines of -8% and -6% respectively", said Zivile Brazdziunaite, Imaging Market Analyst at CONTEXT. The improvement has been driven by an increase in sales of single-function (SF) devices. All major WE countries registered negative performance, except for Italy and Spain, in which year-on-year printer hardware sell-in increased by +8% and +29% respectively. The increase in Italy is due to sales of multi-function (MF) devices, while all printer hardware categories continued to perform well in Spain. Unit shipments to Germany continued to underperform compared to the WE average and shrunk by -11% year-on-year in Q3 2016. Meanwhile, although sell-in to the UK improved, driven by sell-in increase of laser hardware devices, there was a year-on-year decline of -8% compared to -18% decline in the previous quarter. Similarly, in the Middle East and Africa (MEA), sell-in of printer hardware has improved compared to the previous quarter while continuing to decline year-on-year. The fall of -6% is due to continuous decline across all major MEA countries, except for UAE in which sell-in levels became positive across all categories, especially laser MFPs, and grew to +32% year-on-year in Q3 2016. Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) outperformed other regions, and printer hardware unit shipments saw a decline of only -3% year-on-year, following a particularly strong performance of +22% in the previous quarter. Sell-in levels to countries such as Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Ukraine and Kazakhstan registered double-digit performance for the quarter. However, shipments to Russia declined by -21% year-on-years in Q3 2016 and, since Russia continues to account for more than 40% of all Imaging unit shipments to CEE, it was to a large extent responsible for the negative performance of the region.
Country split for Q3/2016
| Country |
Q3-16 |
| Spain |
29% |
| Finland |
20% |
| Poland |
15% |
| Italy |
8% |
| Netherlands |
-4% |
| France |
-5% |
| United Kingdom |
-8% |
| Germany |
-11% |
| Austria |
-13% |
| Portugal |
-14% |
| Switzerland |
-14% |
| Denmark |
-17% |
| Belgium |
-18% |
| Norway |
-18% |
| Sweden |
-19% |
| Luxembourg |
-21% |
Ingram Micro Cloud adds Microsoft Azure, Dropbox and BitTitan Solutions to automated cloud services platform
Middle East: broadliner Aptec has announced that three new vendor solutions have been added in the Middle East to the Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace, a leading automated cloud services platform that allows partners to purchase, provision, manage, and invoice cloud technology with ease. The Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace is available in the region through Aptec offices in Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Digital transformation has become a top priority for many organizations across the Middle East as more CIOs and IT decision makers recognize the direct impact cloud has on their bottom line. To help channel partners better respond to this unprecedented business demand and compete more effectively in today's evolving marketplace, Ingram Micro Cloud has significantly enhanced its Infrastructure and Communication & Collaboration cloud offerings with the following additions:
- Microsoft Azure – Microsoft Azure is a highly flexible hybrid cloud platform that features a combination of IaaS and PaaS solutions that enable developers to quickly build, deploy, manage, and scale applications to meet their organization's specific needs, without the investment of an underlying infrastructure. Ingram Micro partners can offer Azure in a flexible consumption-based, pay-as-you-go pricing model through the Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program, enabling them to manage the complete subscription lifecycle and achieve greater renewal margins.
- Dropbox for Business – Dropbox for Business is a leading provider of file sharing and collaboration services. Built on a highly scalable and secure infrastructure, Dropbox Business offers a centralized administration console for users to easily access, manage, and backup critical workloads across multiple devices, as well as seamless integration with hundreds of existing third-party solutions.
- BitTitan – Designed to support a seamless business transition, BitTitan delivers an automated end-to-end migration and onboarding experience for complementary cloud services such as Microsoft Office 365.
The Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace fully automates the service delivery, customer management, and invoicing of Azure, Dropbox and BitTitan services, allowing resellers to quickly bring cloud solutions to a wider client base by accelerating time-to-market and eliminating operational complexities.
"Since rolling out our Cloud Marketplace for the META region in October, we’ve worked diligently to expand our cloud catalog which now boasts six leading cloud vendor offerings—and more planned soon", said Rahul Bhavsar, director, Cloud Sales, META, Ingram Micro. "We are thrilled to add these market-leading business collaboration and infrastructure solutions to our platform and provide even greater opportunities for our partners to accelerate their cloud sales while strengthening their status as trusted IT advisor to end-clients."
Two new brands for Difox
Consumer electronics specialist Difox has started the distribution of a selection of fire detectors from Ei Electronics and V7 monitors in Europe, through its offices in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain.
New partners for Ingram Micro, Nimans, SIPHON and Westcoast
United Kingdom: the Value division of broadliner Ingram Micro has unveiled a partnership with software vendor Flexcom to become its first local distributor. Flexcom is well known for its software quality and excellent customer satisfaction rate. As a strong solution partner, Flexcom will compliment Ingram Micro's vendor portfolio enormously and their extensive portfolio of products will help Ingram Micro customers offer more professional solutions. Julian Thompson, Senior Director Advanced Solutions Ingram Micro, commented: "we are thrilled to be partnering with Flexcom on an exclusive level to deliver new technologies and opportunities to our channel partners. Their products will offer great value to our telephony and collaboration resellers." As a value added vendor these products will simplify and scale customers' collaboration processes and increase productivity around unified communications; reducing time spent on managing the infrastructure by up to 85%. Essentially they will enable quicker deployment of Cisco collaboration and telephony and cost savings on skill required to deploy as well as help effectively manage customers' telecom expenses and reduce associated costs by up to 30%. Flexcom is designed and programmed to easily and intuitively manage and provision a telephony system.
Telecom VAD Nimans has teamed up with manufacturer IDEAL Networks to showcase the latest network data cable test equipment at its Trafford Park Trade Counter in Manchester – with hands-on demonstrations and expert advice available. Demonstrations of the latest IDEAL Network testers including the LanTEK III LAN cable certifiers and new OTDR fibre fault finders were very well received.
TeleWare has signed a new partnership with telecom VAD SIPHON Networks, part of the Nuvias Group. This builds off TeleWare's partnering for growth philosophy and reflects its dedication to working with companies that can offer differentiation and collaboration to mutually enhance value. Working with SIPHON provides TeleWare with further sector-spanning capabilities and know-how and allows end users to receive "enterprise now" technology, which is operational immediately, with no interruption of service. Initially, the partnership will focus on enhancements to Microsoft capability, especially Skype for Business.
Finally, Supercover Insurance has announced a partnership with broadliner Westcoast that will allow their partners to provide insurance cover with every gadget purchase. Supercover Insurance's director of sales John Fannon said: "it's fantastic to have Westcoast on board supplying our insurance. They are a major player in the market and we are thrilled to bolster their existing offering with our award winning cover." Richard Wills, Telco Director at Westcoast, commented: "we are delighted to be able to add Supercover Insurance to our portfolio. This further extends the comprehensive range of solutions we can offer our partners. Supercover's excellent reputation in our sector and their ability to offer our partners recurring revenue made them an obvious choice."
Atid launches a brand of mobile accessories
France: broadliner and trader Atid Technology has launched its own brand of compatible mobile accessories, Wave Concept.
Avnet to distribute Docker Datacenter Subscriptions and Commercially Supported (CS) Docker Engine
Infrastructure VAD Avnet Technology Solutions has signed an EMEA distribution agreement with Docker to offer partners in France, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom, commercial support and products from the Docker product range. As part of this agreement, Avnet will distribute Docker Datacenter, an integrated platform for developers and IT to collaborate, bringing improved security, policy and controls to the application lifecycle without sacrificing agility or application portability. Avnet will also distribute CS Engine, Docker's tested, validated and supported package of Docker Engine. This agreement will help to drive innovation in the cloud and leverage existing knowledge to create optimal data centre environments.
With Docker Datacenter, organisations have an enterprise-ready management solution that allows developers to ship applications from development to production 13 times faster, while giving operations teams the ability to seamlessly migrate these workloads to the cloud. In turn, customers operating Docker Datacenter on premises also report significant improvement in operational efficiency and improved application portability to any infrastructure. This partnership further strengthens Avnet's footprint in the data centre market and will provide partners with the ability to take a holistic approach to application and software development, delivering agility and flexibility to IT operations, while drastically driving down operational costs. "We see a good opportunity with Docker to provide our customers with the competitive edge they need to stay ahead", said Marcus Adae, vice president, strategic suppliers, at Avnet Technology Solutions, EMEA. "Containerisation is a fast growing technology and Avnet, being an already established leader in data centre solutions, will provide the optimum platform for Docker's technology to transform businesses across Europe. Docker will benefit from our extensive partner network to help drive adoption and integration with a range of technologies and enterprise environments."
Glenn Gerrard, director, EMEA channel and alliances at Docker, commented: "Avnet will provide Docker with the foundation to continue to build our business in Europe, and they have the experience and expertise needed as we launch our expanded partner program in EMEA. This strategic partnership will make it easier to help drive Container-as-a-Service adoption, so that customers can have an IT managed and secured application environment that enables developers to build and deploy applications in a self-service manner."
Two new brands for BC Segurança
Portugal: physical security specialist BC Segurança has inked distribution deals with HIKvision (IP cameras) and Pyronix (intrusion detection) (source: IT Channel Portugal).
ALSO joins forces with TelecoMKB Services to provide a state-of-the-art VoIP exchange
Netherlands: with the introduction of TelecoMKB Services to the ALSO Cloud Marketplace, broadliner ALSO can now offer unlimited calls to landline and mobile phones in the country for a fixed price per month. An easy-to-use mobile app in combination with a smart telephone exchange mean customers can now make calls over the internet, even if their internet connection is temporarily down. TelecoMKB Services provides this as a complete care package, from porting to implementing the VoIP Xelion Cloud exchange. The product is delivered ready to use, and TelecoMKB's support department can provide users with any product help they need. "ALSO is proud to join forces with a VoIP provider in the ALSO Cloud Marketplace to meet our resellers' demand for VoIP services. We are convinced that TelecoMKB's advanced VoIP exchange packages will enable us to effectively respond to this market demand", said Johan Jansen, Cloud Manager Benelux.
"We realise that many businesses are confused by the huge range of services available on the market and find it difficult to choose which ICT services to use, particularly in the field of telephony. TelecoMKB Services has therefore selected a number of premium services for businesses. We believe in our services because we rely on them ourselves every day. By cooperating with ALSO and their Marketplace, we can now offer our products and services to a larger market, because it is our belief that everybody can benefit from working in the cloud", said George Chatzivasiliadis, Managing Director of TelecoMKB Services.
Businesses can use the VoIP Xelion solution to place calls from a landline, a computer with softphone installed and a headset, or via the mobile app. Few people are aware of the benefits of this, according to TelecoMKB. Headsets are ideal because they enable callers to continue their work with both of their hands. The big advantage of the mobile app is that users are always available on their landline telephone number, wherever they are. The VoIP Xelion telephony solution is provided by TelecoMKB Services and is now available in the ALSO Cloud Marketplace.
New brands for Landatel and Tech Data Mobile
Spain: network specialist Landatel has inked a deal with local operator LCRcom, to distribute its unified communication offer on the market of smaller operators as a white brand offer. Meanwhile, the Mobile division of broadliner Tech Data has started the distribution of QimmiQ 360° cameras, drones and rugged phones, from French vendor and distributor Sopeg (source: Sonitron España).
Query in the mobility market
France: traditionally specialized on the software market, Query Informatique has ventured on the mobility market through a deal with MySilverShield, which has developed an anti-wave protection card for mobile phones.
Adveo stops some distribution
Following difficulties in 2015, which led to a €70m loss and the sell of its Adimpo business to Westcoast because of a drop in profitability and a difficult implementation of SAP, stationary specialist Adveo has decided to quit the distribution market. The company is closing many of its distributor contracts (including HP Inc.), and plans to reposition itself mainly as a stationary-oriented competitor of Amazon, backed with a network of Calipage brick-and-mortar shops. The distributor will stop completely to serve the IT channel, but will continue to work with office supply-related channel. The company is currently present in Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain (source: Channel Partner España).
Another country for Avnet’s next-generation cloud marketplace
Netherlands: Infrastructure VAD Avnet Technology Solutions has launched its EMEA Avnet Cloud Marketplace in the Netherlands. The Marketplace supports partners in helping end-user organisations become cloud-enabled through comprehensive cloud solutions from leading global cloud providers, and Avnet’s own cloud services, as well as a variety of flexible payment models. The Avnet Cloud Marketplace is unique within the IT distribution industry worldwide and delivers rapid deployment of cloud-based solutions, either through a consumption or subscription-based model. Partners can bundle different suppliers' cloud products and combine them with Avnet's IT services for cloud solutions that offer differentiated value-add for their customers. These cloud solutions and services are available in a partner's own branded cloud storefront, making them the single-source cloud provider and trusted advisor their customers need.
Marc van Ierland, country manager BeNeLux for Avnet Technology Solutions EMEA, said: "the Avnet Cloud Marketplace is the latest example of how we're helping our partners capitalise on next-generation technologies as they evolve to ensure their own long-term success in the rapidly changing technology market. We've designed the Marketplace based on our expert insights across a range of public, private and hybrid cloud environments, creating a 'one-stop shop' for partners to deliver solutions that help organisations make the transition to a cloud-based business model."
The Marketplace has an integrated toolset which enables users to monitor cloud consumption as well as manage and optimise cloud solutions purchased, via a customised dashboard. In addition, the toolset also allows users to prepare consolidated invoices in local currency, making it easier for partners and their customers. The EMEA Avnet Cloud Marketplace is currently available to partners in Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States, offering products from: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Avnet, Brocade, Cisco, F5, IBM, NetApp, Oracle, SoftLayer and VMware.
Yuneec high end drones land at Exertis
United Kingdom: broadliner Exertis has signed a distribution partnership with Yuneec, an industry leader in electric aviation, to market their full range of drone and flying camera products in the country. Yuneec is well known in the professional drone market with its Typhoon range that offers innovative, fully featured products that provide aerial and videography solutions with 4k camera capability for pilots of all levels of experience. Breeze meanwhile is marketed as a no flight experience, flying camera, controlled by iOS or Android devices and the Breeze app, which can capture photos and video in 4k resolution, and share directly to social media. Alex Croft, Exertis Home sales and commercial director, said: "the Yuneec brands cater for professionals, enthusiasts and first timers but at prices that make them very attractive for the consumer market. As features improve and prices come down, we expect the drone market to really take off this Christmas." Philip Hind, Yuneec Sales Manager, said: "Yuneec are delighted to be working with Exertis and look forward to developing their business together in this very exciting and rapidly growing market."
MEDIUM displays on Barco
Germany: AV specialist MEDIUM has been chose by Barco as a new distributor for its ClickShare CS-100. With ClickShare technology, presentations and meetings can be designed interactively in a very innovative way. With a simple click, the various participants can easily share their input on a display or a projector. The CS-100 is ideal for small meeting rooms where content needs to be shared. It is a stand-alone model that delivers content to displays in the meeting room. "Barco welcomes MEDIUM, an ALSO Group company, in its German distribution network", said Nathalie Leignel, Director Channel EMEA at Barco. "We are delighted to work with IT SMB Resellers together with MEDIUM. This partnership gives us access to the SMB segment, where the Barco CS-100 fits perfectly."
"Barco is a significant addition to our Pro A/V portfolio. Barco is a very respected manufacturer and we see the new partnership as a kind of distinction", says Andreas Ruhland, Managing Director of MEDIUM. "We are delighted to be able to offer the Barco CS-100 to our existing dealers, and we are confident that Barco will attract many new dealers to us."
Ingram in the cloud with Sage
France: broadliner Ingram Micro has unveiled on its showcase event the addition of Sage cloud-based enterprise management solutions to its cloud marketplace as well as the distribution of WaveSight long range wireless network infrastructure solutions.
Ingram Micro partners with Nexthink
Nexthink, a specialist in end-user experience management, has signed a partnership with broadliner Ingram Micro, as a Value Added Distributor for the Middle East, Turkey and Africa. This partnership will help the distributor to tap into the growing IT Operations Analytics market, which is expected to reach €8.79b by 2020. Nexthink recently introduced its latest version V6 that offers organizations real-time analytics and insights from an end-user (employee) perspective, to make smarter data-driven decisions and align their IT operations with the needs of the business and the end-users. These meaningful insights help the IT team to respond to performance issues, failures, crashes, and security issues more quickly and efficiently. Dr. Ali Baghdadi, SVP, Chief Executive at Ingram Micro Middle East, Turkey and Africa, said: "our focus on Cyber Security and its value added services is becoming our priority. Therefore, partnering with Nexthink is a natural extend to our portfolio and enable us to offer IT Analytics solutions across the region, which is a significant differentiator in the markets in which Ingram Micro operates. We look forward to a successful partnership."
Ingram Micro distributes a wide range of Value Added solutions and products covering Data Centre, Storage, Security, Networking, Software, Hardware, Services and Telecommunication products from well-known vendors. Ingram Micro will work closely with Nexthink to build on the relationships with existing partners and customers as the demand for IT Operations Analytics (ITOA) solutions grows. The addition of Nexthink to its portfolio will enable Ingram Micro to provide award-winning IT Analytics solutions to its channel partners, resellers, system integrators, and end-users through its offices in Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Copaco catches a Barracuda
Netherlands: broadliner Copaco has inked a distribution deal with UTM vendor Barracuda.
New deals for AT Computers, Avnet and Nelro Data
Central Europe: broadliner AT Computers has added Tesla batteries1 and Razer gaming accessories to its portfolios in Czechia and Slovakia. Infrastructure VAD Avnet has become exclusive Oracle distributor over the Slovak market2. Until now, it shared the market with broadliner ASBIS SK. In Poland, infrastructure VAD Avnet has started the distribution of Ruckus wireless infrastructure products3. Consumer electronics specialist Nelro Data has added AVM routers4 and ThiEYE actioncams5 to its catalog (source: ChannelWorld Česko 1 and 2, Reseller Magazine Online Česko, CRN Polska 3, 4 and 5).
CI Distribution announces partnerships with AORUS and Gigabyte
United Kingdom: PC component and peripheral specialist CI Distribution has partnered with gaming brand AORUS and hardware manufacturer Gigabyte (GBT). It will be responsible for stocking and promoting all Gigabyte and AORUS gaming notebooks. The AORUS brand, focused clearly on the Gaming and Performance segment, has developed a strong following and reputation since launching in 2014. AORUS hardware is specifically designed to suit the brand's relatively thin and light gaming notebooks, which possess features such as high-end GPUs in a slim chassis design. Ci Distribution believes that this broadened product range – along with its wide market reach in the UK and worldwide – will allow GBT and AORUS to considerably expand their presence within the industry. Ci Distribution's business development manager Iain Gillogaley said: "the addition of Gigabyte and AORUS notebooks will allow Ci Distribution to branch into the exciting and growing gaming notebook market. Gigabyte has a growing reputation within this market, and are renowned for being first to market with class leading technical specifications. A varied range of products cover all price points and customer needs, and allow users to experience an immersive gaming experience. With existing links into gaming resellers, the company look forward to bolstering their offering with the addition of the Gigabyte range."
Steve Clark, Gigabyte's UK country manager, also commented about the new distribution deal: "We believe both of our gaming notebook brands, Gigabyte and AORUS, will appeal to resellers of all shapes and sizes within Ci Distribution's customer base. We are delighted to be able to have the opportunity to offer these products to Ci Distribution and its partners. We strongly believe that Ci Distribution is a valuable addition to our network and will enable us take our business to the next level within the UK. We very much look forward to working with them." (source: PCR Online United Kingdom).
Exertis distributes Qantik
France: consumer electronics specialist Exertis has expanded its mobility portfolio with Qantik 360° cameras.
