Powermove expands iPhone range

Apple accessories distributor, Powermove, is expanding several of its vendor relationships to meet rising demand for third-party iPhone accessories and Mac peripherals.

The company has brought on a range of iPhone cases from relative newcomer and Hong Kong-based accessories vendor, Switch Easy, which it is now pushing through its retailer and reseller channels.

Powermove marketing manager, Chris Allsop, said it had initially trialled Switch Easy’s iPod Nano cases late last year before opting to secure a distribution deal.

“We’ve found them a very good company to deal with in terms of quality and marketing,” he said. “They are now doing a complete range of iPod and iPhone accessories – as they have grown, we have decided to support them on their way.”

Powermove has also expanded an existing agreement with Klipsch from its iPod docks to sole rights across its full loud speaker range.

“This allows us access to their entire home theatre range and means we’re talking to bigger retailers such as Harvey Norman a lot more,” Allsop said. “We have a lot of skills in the audio technology space, so we can utilise our skills here to grow market share.”

Imation’s recent acquisition of long-time Powermove vendor partner, XtremeMac, had also opened up new product access and resources and was kick-starting a relaunch of the brand, Allsop said.

‘It’s another exciting part of their growth – XtremeMac has bigger global revenue with Imation funding it; this gives us new product and legs to go with it,” he said.

Despite the global downturn, Allsop claimed the iPhone’s popularity continued to soar and said the distributor was gearing up for the Christmas rush.

“The iPhone is what we saw happen with the iPod a few years back – it’s really taking off,” he said.