CHERRY on top
Components specialist ZF Electronics UK – the manufacturer behind the CHERRY brand of computer components – is stepping up its efforts to drive channel sales with the launch of a new partner programme.
Speaking to Channel Pro, CHERRY’s UK managing director Michael Groom (pictured) says the firm has been sharpening its focus on its channel sales over the last two years: “We have been proactively transferring what was previously direct business as we feel that the needs of our resellers can be better catered for via one of our distribution partners,” he says.
Groom adds the firm intends to invest heavily in the channel throughout the remainder of 2011 and in to 2012.
To this end, CHERRY will unveil its new partner programme next month. Groom promises “exclusive offers, deals and discounts will be made available to distributors and resellers as we continue our bid to raise awareness of the CHERRY brand in the UK.” In addition, product information, data, advice, PR news, media tools and new product information will be available via a new portal.
CHERRY, which partners with Enta Tech, Northamber and Tekdata, which distribute its retail portfolio, B2B range and security products respectively, has a diverse range. It offers consumer-led multimedia products, as well as biometrics, smartcards, RFID products as well as keyboards and mice. In Groom’s own words, CHERRY offers “everything from an OEM entry level keyboard and mouse right through to an all-singing-all-dancing POS product, and everything in between.”
The firm – which was bought by German electronics powerhouse ZF in 2008 – has a turnover of $480m, of which $60m comes from keyboard and mice sales. However, the firm is currently facing a sizeable threat to its keyboard business with the explosion of devices that don’t require additional keyboards such as the iPad, tablets, netbooks and notebooks.
A report last month by IT market research company Context indicated computer sales across Europe this summer were in the doldrums while sales of tablets continue to grow. While unit sales of PCs were flat compared to the same period last year, sales of tablets continue to climb by approximately 30 percent, fuelled mainly by demand for the Apple iPad.
“We do recognise the change in the marketplace and the gradual slow down of the input device market as a whole,” says Groom. “With the influx of cheap tablet devices to rival Apple’s iPad, the rise of the netbook and also the availability and choice of laptops, the market for input devices is getting smaller and competition more fierce for the limited amount of places.”
However, Groom insists that CHERRY’s reputation, innovation and changing product line will help it remain competitive. “It’s imperative that companies in our marketplace are innovative with their product selections to encompass the new marketplace as it evolves,” he says.
Recognising this slowdown in the input device market, and the influx of competition from the Far Easy, CHERRY plans to launch new products such as an iPad compatible keyboard (due Q2 2012 as well as launching an attack on the ‘high-end’ of the market – positioning itself in the same space as Bang & Olufsen or Bose – by increasing the number of products with a high price-point.
Elsewhere, 2010 marked CHERRY’s 40th year in the computer input devices market, and marked the occasion with a number of sales and reseller promotions and incentives alongside its “Celebrating” advertising campaign.
