HOME Extra expands to Bahrain and Oman
United Electronics, the parent company behind Saudi Arabian big box retailer Extra, recorded sales of US$804m in 2012 – up 22.5% year-on-year. Extra also increased its store network from 24 to 29 branches in 2012. The retailer has also expanded geographically in early 2013, opening new outlets in both Bahrain and Oman. Extra’s net profits in 2012 were up 20.2% year-on-year at US$43.6m.
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UAE-based distributor and retailer Jumbo Electronics has taken Sennheiser to the top of the vendor rankings for headphone sales. Jumbo reckons that Sennhesier achieved top spot in the fourth quarter of 2012 in terms of both quantity and value of headphone sales, citing data from research house GfK.
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CompuMe@Virgin concept unveiled
Middle East retailer CompuMe has announced that it will brand itself as CompuMe@Virgin for the in-house IT concessions it operates in Virgin Megastores in the UAE. CompuMe also operates concessions in some smaller Carrefour Market stores and hopes to increase its presence further in the UAE retail channel in 2013. CompuMe also announced the closure of its standalone Mall of the Emirates store at the end of February.
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Axiom sales exceed US$2 billion in 2012
Middle East telecoms retailer Axiom Telecom has reported that its 2012 revenues hit US$2.18 billion. The company claims that it currently holds a 71% share of the UAE mobile handset market. The retailer also says that its customer base has risen by 47% since July 2012, driven by increased footfall to both new and existing outlets.
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Middle East distributor Aptec, now part of Ingram Micro, was named as an EMEA volume distributor of the year for 2012 at security software vendor Symantec’s regional partner conference held last month in Lisbon, Portugal. Aptec was recognised for its investment in Symantec, its delivery of Symantec solutions, service and support to end user customers and its ability to meet customer objectives.
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Canon Middle East sets up Kenya operation
The Middle East arm of imaging and printing product vendor Canon has set up a subsidiary in Kenya to target the rapidly growing markets of East Africa. Canon Kenya will function as a Canon Middle East office focused on providing marketing and channel development services to both new and existing partners and clients across Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, Eritrea, Rwanda and Burundi.
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CONTEXT emerging markets summit at DISTREE EMEA
This year’s DISTREE EMEA event in Monaco begins today with an Emerging Markets Summit hosted by channel tracking experts CONTEXT, taking place from 13:45-15:45. The session will include exclusive results from CONTEXT’s EMEA-wide ChannelWatch survey, which canvassed the opinions of thousands of resellers and retailers across the region.
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Hardware vendor Lenovo has appointed Mohammed Hilili as general manager for the Gulf region with a focus on growing and developing the company’s Middle East operation. Hilili’s remit includes both the enterprise and consumer space as well as channel relations. Hilili has more than a decade of experience in IT, consumer electronics and general business across the region. Hilili previously worked at PC vendor Acer as country manager for Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
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EMEA Distributor Initiative of the Year – NOMINATE NOW
Nominations are now being accepted for the EMEA Distributor Initiative of the Year Award, part of the ‘EMEA Channel Academy: 2013 Awards’ that take place in conjunction with next month’s DISTREE EMEA event in Monaco. From a new financing approach through to an incredible bundling promotion, loyalty scheme, logistics improvement or increase in reseller breadth, the organisers are looking for an initiative that has made a significant impact on a distribution business and been recognised by the wider channel community.
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Toshiba lauds latest IDC figures for MEA
Notebook vendor Toshiba has claimed top spot in the third quarter IDC statistics for the Middle East and Africa (MEA), according to the vendor. Toshiba came top in terms of portable PC shipments for the quarter with 22.5% of the total market for notebooks, with the vendor achieving ’significant’ unit growth of 44.8% year-on-year.
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