IT Distribution Giant Brings Expanded Market Reach and Value Chain Efficiencies to CE Manufacturers - Says IT Players Will Drive CE Manufacturers
to Revamp Supply Chain Models
LAS VEGAS, INTERNATIONAL CES, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ingram Micro Inc. (NYSE: IM) today announced it is aggressively pursuing new relationships with consumer electronics (CE) manufacturers and expanding existing relationships with its traditional IT players to bring a new line of converging technologies to its growing customer base of solution providers, direct marketers, e-tailers and retailers. The business initiative supports the company's growth strategy and long-standing commitment of being the leading go-to-market partner for the technology industry.
Over the past two decades, Ingram Micro's global operations have helped hundreds of IT and CE manufacturers use their supply chain as a competitive springboard to gain market share and maximize profits. Ingram Micro's Asia-Pacific and Europe regions already service a number of CE manufacturers including BenQ, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung, Siemens and Sony. Now, the distribution leader is looking to capture similar success with CE manufacturers in North America.
"No matter what part of the world you're operating in, you simply can't beat the economics of IT's two-tier distribution model," said Michael J. Grainger, president and COO, Ingram Micro Inc. "And, in North America, we're seeing a growing number of our mainstream IT manufacturers such as Dell, Gateway, and HP move beyond the PC and into the consumer marketplace. This will require many traditional CE manufacturers to reassess and, in some cases, revamp their supply chains to stay competitive with these IT giants. That's where we come in."
Ingram Micro's core competencies fall into three categories -- sales, marketing and supply chain management. From a retail standpoint, two of the company's key points of differentiation are its long-standing relationships and proprietary connectivity infrastructure with today's leading electronics retailers and e-tailers including Amazon.com, Buy.com, CircuitCity.com, CompUSA and Staples, as well as, manufacturer-direct Web sites such as Dell and Gateway.
In addition to retail outlets, Ingram Micro's North America business also offers its manufacturers a direct feed into three dominant, sales-driven solution provider communities, including its Ingram Micro Service Network (550+ members), The VentureTech Network (310+ members) and SMB Alliance (5,000+ members).
"These solution provider communities offer untapped sales potential and purchasing influence for CE manufacturers looking to reach small- to mid-sized businesses and enterprises throughout North America," said Grainger.
Distributor Sees Digital Convergence as Demand Generator
A key driver impacting Ingram Micro's move to expand even further into the CE market, particularly in North America, is the growing demand for digital convergence. "Today, technology adoption and innovation are driven by consumers and businesses," said Kevin Murai, president, Ingram Micro North America. "With home networking on the rise and the mounting adoption of wireless in consumer-facing businesses such as airports, restaurants and coffee houses, the demand for converged technology products is growing at a steady pace. To capture this growth, we're strengthening our relationships with forward-looking companies such as Sony who continue to introduce products and solutions that blur the lines between personal and office use. And, although these are exciting times for technology innovation, we're only seeing the tip of the digital iceberg."
Another key trend is the growing interest and actions among Ingram Micro's traditional IT manufacturers to expand their branding and product offerings to the consumer market.
"A number of technology and CE manufacturers are taking up residence in the home networking market and introducing new lines of pro-sumer (professional and consumer) products such as combo-devices and SOHO/home server solutions," said IDC research director Danielle Levitas. "We expect this trend to continue and see it as another indicator of the growing demand for technology in both the living room and the boardroom."
"What started a few years back with LCD and plasma TVs has now expanded to include digital cameras, personal printers and handheld, combo-devices such as PDA cell phones and camera phones," said Murray Wright, vice president and general manager, sales, Ingram Micro Canada. "Flat-panel technology attracted the mainstream IT players to the consumer space, but it's the market potential for more advanced consumer technologies that will keep them there."
Ingram Micro Signs Norcent, Expands Offerings from BenQ, Samsung and Sony
Ingram Micro North America is in negotiations with several CE manufacturers and recently brought on board Norcent Technology, Inc., a U.S. corporation with Chinese support, that manufactures and markets high-quality, competitively priced home entertainment, computer and memory products. Its product line includes: home theater systems; DVD players; television sets, including flat- and standard-screen, high-definition, rear-projection and plasma; optical drives; monitors; and memory and semiconductor storage products.
"By teaming Ingram Micro's logistics, marketing and sales excellence with Norcent's attractively priced, high-quality technology products, we're providing consumers and the reseller channel with exciting new choices for both the home and office," said Jennifer Long, CEO, Norcent Technology, Inc.
"We're excited about our relationship with Norcent and are committed to bringing on board several new CE manufacturers in 2004," said Mike Shelton, senior director, business development, Ingram Micro U.S. "We're placing equal emphasis on expanding our relationships with our current IT manufacturers as well."
To date, Ingram Micro North America services the consumer electronics arms of several technology manufacturers including BenQ, Epson, Microsoft (Xbox), Samsung, Sanyo and Sony.
For all manufacturer and solution provider inquiries related to consumer electronics in the United States, contact Michael Shelton at (714) 382-2473 or michael.shelton@ingrammicro.com ; in Canada contact John Henderson at (905) 755-5000, ext. 55777, or john.henderson@ingrammicro.ca .
About Ingram Micro Inc.
As a vital link in the technology value chain, Ingram Micro creates sales and profitability opportunities for vendors and resellers through unique marketing programs, outsourced logistics services, technical support, financial services, and product aggregation and distribution. The company serves 100 countries and is the only global IT distributor with operations in Asia. Ranked 76 on the Fortune 500, Ingram Micro generated $22.5 billion in revenues for fiscal year 2002. Visit www.ingrammicro.com/corp .
(C) 2004 Ingram Micro Inc. All rights reserved. Ingram Micro and the registered Ingram Micro logo are trademarks used under license by Ingram Micro Inc. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE Ingram Micro Inc.